Hero of the People
by Moonlit Water Sunny River
Summary: William Elric was never a normal boy, even before he became a State Alchemist. After all, normal boys didn't dye their hair green and wear black miniskirts. Normal boys didn't have dolls for brothers. And normal boys definitely didn't have automail. Character switch AU, no pairings, no OCS.
1. Prelude

**This is an AU. That should probably be said first. What exactly it's an AU ABOUT, is probably better read than told.**

**I originally started telling this story in a series of drabbles, but it started driving me nuts after a while. So I decided to go with actual chapters. Yay! However, I'll be honest – Seven Names of Envy Angevin is my main project, and this is secondary (although it's really not far behind in terms of interest). So I can't promise how fast new chapters will come out :P**

**The chapters won't be terribly, terribly long (for now anyway) – this is three and a half pages on Word. **

**The lyrics are by AFI.**

**Brief edits Feb 8th, 2013: A few missing words, grammar mistakes, etc.**

~1~

_This is what I brought you, this you can keep,  
This is what I brought, you may forget me.  
I promise you my heart, just promise to sing,  
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep._

_-**Prelude 12-21**_

Selim Bradley woke up at eleven o'clock on a stormy night with the unshakable, unmistakable feeling that something was terribly wrong.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and trying to locate the source of his discomfort. One thing he'd learned in his ten short years was never to ignore his gut feelings – they hadn't been wrong yet. He'd felt like this the night before he'd gotten the news of his mother's death.

It came to him, crystal clear and insistent. _Will and Alex are in trouble._

His first instinct was to run down to their house, tumble down the hill and knock on their door until he woke them up, saw their faces and proved his intuition wrong. But fear stopped him – and instead, he crawled out from underneath his covers, touching his feet to the floorboards and trying to ignore the prickling feeling at the back of his neck.

Slowly, quietly, afraid that shattering the silence would bring some danger down on his head, he made his way through the open door to the other room, where his father lay sleeping. "Dad," he whispered, although it came out sounding like a shout in the stillness.

There was no response, although he could see the rise and fall of his breath. Selim touched his shoulder lightly, then grasped it and gave it a shake. "Dad, wake up."

King began to stir. "Selim? What's the matter?" He turned around, one dark eye fixing on his son's dark silhouette and the other, milky white and sightless, staring out into empty space.

"It's…" He swallowed. "I think something's wrong."

"Where?" asked King, already sitting up and reaching for his eyepatch. It hurt him to look at anything for too long with the destroyed eye, and he fitted the cord over his head, making sure the black leather covered not only his eye but the scar that crossed it.

"Down the hill. Will and Alex." Already, the tugging sense of _wrongness _was starting to fade into the realm of bad dreams, and he was about to smile and dismiss it, when a flash brighter and bluer than lightning ignited the sky and lit up every window.

The feeling returned, twice as strong.

The quiet static of the storm shattered with a bloodcurdling scream. Selim knew it.

"ALEX!"

He ran for the front door, slamming into it as his shaking, sweaty hands searched for purchase on the knob. Finally, he twisted it to the side, flinging the door open and letting it slam into the wall as he hurtled out into the rain.

"Selim, stop." The leathery hand on his shoulder was gentle but unyielding, and he looked up at his father with a scowl. "It's not safe."

He shook his head. "I don't care. They need help!" He tried to tug himself out of King's grip, but to no avail. "ALEX! WILL! I'M COMING!" he yelled, but the wind grabbed his words and threw them back in his face.

"Fine. But stay behind me, son."

Selim growled, but with a sigh, fell behind King – who, he noticed, had his sword with him, belt strapped on over his blue striped pyjamas.

They went slowly, bare feet squelching and sliding in the muddy disaster that the rain had made of the hill. With every cautious step, the prickling at the back of Selim's neck intensified, to the point where he could begin to identify the cause.

Alchemy.

Another scream split the air – deeper, hoarser, although few ears could discern the difference that only a year could make – and unwilling to be restrained any longer, Selim took off down the rest of the hill. The mud, as if sensing his need for swiftness, tripped him up and sent him sliding down to the ditch at the foot of the short tumble.

He immediately sprang to his feet, reaching for the handle of the closest door (the concrete portal that led to the basement). The words he was hearing didn't fully process, muffled as they were by the white noise all around, but just as his fingers brushed the doorknob, another flash lit up the world.

It took a few seconds for his vision to clear, and he'd fallen to the ground. Dad was standing over him.

"Selim, you stay here."

"But –"

"I said, stay here!" King's tone was that of a soldier, and Selim nodded, lifting himself from the ground again.

King laid his hand carefully on the handle, and then twisted it to open the door. It wasn't locked. The air that drifted out smelt putrid, coppery.

It was the smell that pervaded the automail surgery room in their house.

Scarred face growing grimmer and grimmer with every moment, King advanced into the darkness. Selim twisted his toe into the mud, shivering as the rain slithered its way between his pyjama shirt and back. Bad things always happened when it was raining.

Briefly, he wondered if Daddy's knee was hurting. Storms did that – and then he slapped himself. Alex and Will could be badly hurt and he was worried about Daddy's _knee?_

Through the open door, he saw King bend down and lift something – somebody from the ground, then turn around to face him.

Selim's heart stopped beating for a moment as King approached. _It was Will. _But Will's golden hair was drenched in red – so were his t-shirt, and his shorts, and his skin, and –

There was something wrong with him. It took Selim a moment to realize what it was, but he nearly threw up when it finally made sense why William was so much smaller than usual.

_His arm and leg was gone._

"What…" He gulped. "What happened?" The raw, dripping flesh that was crying onto Daddy's arms attracted his eyes like a grotesque carnival – too obscene to be quite real.

"I don't know." King began to make his way up the hill, his pace urgent but careful.

"Wait! Where's Alex?"

King gave his son a sad, regretful look. Selim didn't understand. He looked down at Will's hand – the one that remained – and what it was holding.

A doll – a little wooden doll, with ball joints, glass eyes and a mat of black yarn for hair – dangled limply from his fingers, in danger of falling.

It was Alex's doll, and it was just as coated in blood as Will's skin.

"No," he breathed, shaking his head.

King said nothing more, striding up the hill with his precious burden.

"No," Selim said again. "No, no, no."

Alex was just…Alex was somewhere, Dad just couldn't find him.

Selim flung open the door and entered the room. The third scream of the Elric house that night came from him, as he took in the scene, and everything it meant.

The floorboards were slick with blood – how had this all come from Will? – but not enough to completely conceal the complex, beautiful circle drawn in chalk in the middle of the room. And in the middle of the bone-white circle was…a _monster._

The monster's hair was limp and brown – its fingers delicate, if overlong and skeletal.

"T-Trisha?"

The monster said nothing, blank, sightless eyes accusing and white.

Selim turned and fled, unaware of the frightened tears that streamed from his eyes, or how his heart jackhammered against his ribs. All he knew was Alex, and the sudden, dreadful void that had suddenly grown another person wider.


	2. Daylight Dancer

**A/N: Double update because there's no way to get an alert on replacing the first chapter.**

**Lyrics by Lacuna Coil.**

**Edits Feb 8th 2013: Fixed line breaks and a bit of grammar and spelling.**

~2~

_Answer me, it can't be so hard  
Cry to relieve what's in your heart_

_-**Daylight Dancer**_

Selim had thought William Elric scary, boisterous, sometimes even cruel. He loved him dearly, that was never in question – but he'd much preferred the company of the younger Elric, the excitable, delightfully strange Alexander.

However, this was the first time he'd ever seen Will asleep. Asleep, the hard lines of the eleven-year-old's face were smooth, and there were no mocking words waiting on his tongue.

He reached out to brush a strand of hair away from Will's pale face. He'd lost a lot of blood, Dad had said, and paired with the shock of having his limbs torn off and…whatever else had happened, he wasn't doing well. Three days now Selim had sat by his side, filling the IV bag when it ran empty, cleaning the area around the bandages that swathed his hip and shoulder and reading stories to the comatose boy in a hope that maybe a mother's tale would bring Will back.

As for the other…Selim felt the lump in his throat rise again, and he forced it back down. It had been two years without Mum and he hadn't cried once. He _wouldn't _cry. Crying was a sign of weakness.

But Alex – Alex had been _ten. _His age. And there wasn't even a body. Alex was just…gone.

Selim shivered involuntarily, trying even harder to push away the memories of the bloodsoaked floorboards and the _thing. _Of course, that just made them even more vivid.

With a whimper of fright, Selim lost the battle, squeezing his eyes shut as salty tears poured down his cheeks. _The monster ate him, _moaned the part of him still stuck in true childhood with childhood's imagination, _the monster ate him and that's why there's no body and IT'S GOING TO COME FOR ME NEXT!_

"Why're you crying?"

Selim looked up with a start, hurriedly wiping the tears from his face. However, William was still soundly asleep, and it definitely hadn't been Dad's voice.

"Down here."

Slowly, disbelievingly, Selim lowered his gaze to the floorboards by the foot of his chair, where Alex's doll was standing. As he stared at it, mind completely and utterly blank, it raised its hand.

"So, uh, hi."

It was Alex's voice coming from Alex's doll, and said doll was _moving. _So of course, Selim came to the logical – if impossible – conclusion.

"A-_Alex?"_

The doll nodded. "I'd say in the flesh, but, well…"

"You're not dead!"

"Nope, or at least I hope not. If I am, that means heaven is staring at your ugly mug."

Selim was too shocked even to laugh. "You're…a _doll._"

Alex looked down at himself, poking his wooden belly with a 'click click click'. "Why gosh almighty gee whiz, I am! And here I thought you'd just finally hit that growth spurt you're always going on about!"

He shook his head. "Okay, now I know for sure it's you. But…" Words failed him, as they so often did. "But…_how?_"

Alex shrugged. "The last thing I remember is activating the circle…then boom, I'm here. If this is some nasty prank by Brother, tell me where he is so I can tell him – _not impressed._"

Selim bit his lip. "So…so you were trying to revive her after all?"

Silence. Then, "How did you know?" Alex's voice was quiet and laced with regret.

"I saw the…" Selim let his words fade, then made a 'turn' motion with his finger. Alex did so, and gasped.

"Brother!" He tried to clamber onto the bed, but couldn't find any purchase for the carved wooden nubs of his hands. Wordlessly, Selim leant over and lifted the doll onto the high bed.

"Oh, Brother…" Alex sat on Will's chest, rising and falling with every shallow breath that the patient took. He was quiet for so long that Selim wondered if it had been a hallucination, but the mouthless voice came again after a few moments.

"I see now. My body…his limbs…that was…that was the payment. Equivalent Exchange. We got it wrong."

The words he spoke meant nothing to Selim. They were alchemy terms, as strange to him as equal force, pulleys, gears and metal strengths were to them.

Alex looked up at him, carved face still managing to be painfully, hopelessly lost. "What…what do we do now, Selim?"

Selim wished he had an answer. He wished he could say something to comfort Alex, for all that his mind was still reeling from the sheer _impossibility _of the friend he'd begun to mourn returning in such a form. He wished he could turn back time and fix things – give Will back his arm and leg before he even began to miss them, see Alex's face again instead of the wooden mask.

He couldn't do any of that. So instead he let his shoulders rise and fall, shook his head and whispered, "I don't know."

* * *

Will woke up three times in the next week. The first, only King was there for – it lasted about thirty seconds before he went back to sleep. He hadn't noticed what was wrong.

The second time, Selim and Alex were there. He awoke to see the doll that was now his brother perched on his chest, heard it exclaim happily in his brother's voice and couldn't quite figure out whether to be happy that he'd saved him or miserable that he'd _had _to save him.

The point quickly became moot once he stared at the empty expanse of bed, tried to move his leg and could not.

The third time, King refused to let him go back to sleep and poured lukewarm soup down his throat. "You've got to eat. Get some strength back. You lost a lot of blood, kiddo, and you need to get your iron levels back up."

Will swallowed the soup hungrily, but only two of the words made it through to his still-feverish brain. _Iron. Blood._

Human transmutation. The great taboo, and look where it had gotten them.

When King tried to give him some more, he turned his head away.

* * *

Alex let out a sigh, staring through the glass. "It looks so _beautiful _outside," he moaned.

"Well, why don't you go outside then?" Selim's reflection appeared in the window, ghostly and faded in the bright sun.

"Can I?"

Selim laughed. "You're asking _permission? _Come on, I'll come with you, make sure a cat doesn't eat you or something."

Alex turned around and smacked Selim on the arm with his nub of a hand. "Oh sure, laugh. I won't pull any punches next time _you're _the size of a lamp."

Leaping down from the windowsill, Alex started making his way towards the door, still growing accustomed to his new legs. They didn't quite joint properly – although, he reflected, he was lucky they had joints at all. It could have been worse. He could have been a corn-husk doll, fated to rot away with the next heat.

Selim opened the door before he could struggle to reach the doorknob, and Alex stepped outside for the first time in his new body.

And suddenly, he realized the truth of what he had been cursed with.

He couldn't smell the wind – he _knew _it would smell of bluebells and willow and cow manure, just like it always had, but _it didn't._

The grass was turning into golden hay, but he couldn't feel it scratch his feet.

He tried to take another step forward, and fell – his body was _wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. _

He tried to scream again, and he heard it, but it didn't rip from his throat or even out of his closed, painted-on mouth.

Suddenly, he was being picked up – was that Selim's hand? It was too _big, _so _wrong –_

"I'm so sorry," murmured the small boy who was, suddenly, the tall one.


	3. Escapist

**I changed Valjean's first name so he wouldn't be mixed up with Havoc…it made me sad to do, but I fit in another reference! So that's okay. (If you guess the reference you get a cookie.)**

**Don't…don't ask why King wears flip-flops. Just seems like the kind of crazy old-man thing he'd do.**

**Fairyboydammit: You're here too! Hallo! I'm glad you like the switcheroo idea, I've done quite a few oneshots with a similar concept. King and Selim are characters I've never written, so this is brand new for me. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan: That's good! I really, really wasn't satisfied with the drabbles but I just had to get the idea out somehow…but now I can actually do what I want with it. Thanks for reviewing!**

**hurricaneclaw: Glad you think so~ Alex and Selim are adorable. **

**Shade40: Yay! Yeah, I know they'll be hard to recognize, but I'm working to make Will different from Ed. Later in the story it'll become really, really obvious, but right now it's pretty ambiguous. Alex is fun though (I believe Wrath was 7-8 in the 2003 anime). I don't understand Al's armour either, but like you said, armour – doll – not a whole lotta difference in actual mechanics. As for what the doll looks like, it's kind of like a more masculine, wooden ball-jointed Molly doll. If that helps at all. Thanks for reviewing!**

**The lyrics are by Nightwish.**

~3~

_Virgin snow beneath my feet  
Painting the world in white  
I tread the way  
and lose myself into a tale._

_**-The Escapist**_

Alex adjusted, as he always did. He'd adjusted when Dad left, adapted to having a single parent. He'd adjusted when Mom had died (although apparently not well enough) and being left under Will's not-so-gentle care. Will cared about Alex, but he was hardly parent material, especially not at the tender age of five. He'd adjusted to Izumi's way of teaching.

So he would adapt to this new body, the same as usual.

It was troublesome, of course. Suddenly his weight was in completely different places, and his movement seemed to be ruled by imaginary ley-lines radiating from the seal in the center of his forehead instead of muscles and tendons. It was far harder to predict when he would fall, when he would balance.

There were benefits. He couldn't feel any pain – where in a flesh body, a misaimed kick or loss of balance could land him with a broken leg or a nasty gash, in this wooden mannequin, either of those didn't merit anything more than a quick circle and a flash of light. As long as both of his arms were intact, it was fine.

And there was one more thing Alex always did; he _marvelled. _He couldn't feel – no, stop thinking about that, because if he let himself think about it too much he began to crack again – but the world was _so much bigger. _The long grass which before had come to his waist – now it towered above him, each stalk the height of a young tree. Den was a monstrous figure, and every time she gambolled around it was like an earthquake.

He was walking slowly around the base of a tree, still in sight of the Bradley house and tracing the whorls in the bark, when he heard voices.

_Oh no! What if somebody sees me like this –_

Before he could do anything, however, or even trace where the voices were coming from, he was being hoisted into the air, the grass suddenly very, _very _far below him.

He looked up with trepidation – into a pair of black sunglasses, reflecting his own glass-eyed face back at him.

* * *

Jareth Valjean hated trains. It wasn't the hard wooden seats he had a problem with, or the fact that he couldn't smoke (or drink, or indulge in any of his other pleasures), or even that they were far too noisy for him to sleep in.

It was the mind-numbing _boredom._

Worse than that, the fact that his usual travelling companion was never even the slightest bit affected. He watched bitterly as she turned the page of her book with a black-gloved hand, calm and dignified and sitting just as straight as she had at the beginning of their journey.

A day and a bloody half ago.

As if she could read his thoughts, and Jareth rather suspected that she could, Diana looked up from the novel with a curious glance. "Is something bothering you, Lieutenant?" Jesus Christ, she was _smirking._

"Hell yes. You're _reading._" He sat up, wincing as he stretched his sore back. "What's the _matter _with you, Di? How are you not going nuts?"

Diana closed the book, marking her spot with a finger, and held it up. "By reading, Lieutenant, which is a wonderful pastime and really something you should try."

Jareth snorted. "Novels are for _girls. _And – hold on, what the hell?" He grabbed for the book, but Diana held it just out of his grip. "Is that…what the hell _is _that?"

"Romantic literature," she said as primly as she could.

He barked a laugh. "Smut. You're reading _smut._"

"_Romantic literature, _Lieutenant," she insisted, sly smile still on her face.

He rolled his eyes, lying back down and flinging his arm over his eyes. "Stop calling me Lieutenant, Di, there's no-one else here."

"We're on official business."

"Yes, and _you're reading smut!"_

Finally, her smirk gave way to a full-out grin, which dissolved into laughter. "I'll let you borrow it when I'm done."

"Screw you," was his reply, which, of course, meant _Absolutely._

* * *

Now, Jareth lowered his dark glasses, trying to make sense of what he had hanging from his fingers. "Di – er, Lieutenant-Colonel, you should see this."

Diana, who had been trying to make sense of a crudely-drawn map directing them to the house they sought, turned her attention back to him. "See what, Lieutenant?"

He pointed to the doll, and she shrugged. "It's a child's toy. What's so special about that?"

Jareth looked back at the doll, and cursed quite loudly when he realized that it was no longer moving. The doll proceeded to clap its hands to where its ears should be. "That was _filthy!_" it said in an indignant voice that had no clear source.

He grinned at Diana. "See?"

She nearly dropped the map. "Show me."

He jabbed his finger at the doll's forehead. "See? That's a blood-seal – I've never seen one in real life, but the theory behind them's pretty widely known. The symbol in the middle stands for –"

"The soul, yes," finished Diana, "and the circle is a binding circle, but you can't be claiming –"

"Only thing I can think of. Unless it's mechanical, but that wouldn't explain the voice."

"A-_hem!_" The childlike voice cut through both of theirs, and they glanced back at the doll, who crossed its arms. "I'm. Right. _Here._"

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Who are you and what are you?"

"I'm Alex and I'm a boy." At the soldiers' sceptical expressions, he added, "In a temporary jam."

"Temporary?" echoed Diana. "How on earth did you even – who did this to you?" Just seeing the tenseness in her face was enough to tell Jareth the line her thoughts were taking – experiments on harmless children, probably those who nobody noticed were missing -

"Do I have to tell you?" The voice was plaintive, and then the doll let out a sigh. "Mama said I had to be nice to soldiers."

"Yeah, you do have to tell us." Jareth kept his voice brusque, in a counter to Diana's…usual…way of handling situations involving children.

"Well…okay. My brother. But it wasn't his fault!" The doll waved its hands awkwardly. "I – he – he had to, right, so you can't get mad at him! Or take him away or…whatever soldiers do."

Diana had a queer look on her face. "How old are you…Alex?"

Alex slumped in Jareth's grip. "Um…I'm ten," came the quiet answer.

"I see." Her voice was clipped, both short words bitten off before they'd been quite completed. "And your brother is…?"

"Will." Alex sounded rather defeated now.

"I'll need a family name, too."

Jareth hated it when Diana got like this. He shouldn't, really, because she was a soldier, same as him – and his commanding officer, to boot – but when she acted like this, cold and sharp like broken glass, he knew that soon she'd go reckless and do something incredibly, _astoundingly _stupid.

It was just a matter of time.

"Elric," came the mumbled reply, and Jareth thought he might have lost his eyebrows somewhere in the upper stratosphere.

"Where is your brother now?" Again with the commander tones.

Alex pointed up the hill. "Up there. But – please don't be mad, it wasn't his fault, it really wasn't –"

"We'll see." Diana strode up the hill, and her hand was halfway out of her pocket already.

Jareth sighed, the long-suffering sound of the adjutant, but rested his hand on the grip of his gun as he followed her.

* * *

King Bradley was reading his newspaper on the porch when he first caught sight of the two visitors. "Well, well," he muttered as they approached, dark-blue uniforms eye-catching among the green foliage and grass of the rural town. "Seems the military isn't done with me yet."

He gripped the porch banister and began the weary task of hauling himself to his feet, the gears in his knee clicking and whirring. _I'll need to give that a checkup soon…or get Selim to do it for me. _King smiled despite himself. _That son of mine really is something._

Finally, the first of the two soldiers reached the top of the hill, and without even a moment to catch her breath, she strode up onto the porch. "I'm here to speak with William Elric."

He straightened up, feeling his knee click into place. "Stand down a little, girl, has nobody taught you to respect your elders?"

She seemed taken aback, and he chuckled inwardly before saluting. "Been a while since I've needed to do that. Ex-Major King Bradley at your service, ma'am."

Her eyes widened in recognition, and she instantly returned the salute. "It's an honour to meet you, sir. Lieutenant-Colonel Diana Solaris, sir, and," she added with a wry look as Jareth finally joined her, "Lieutenant Jareth Valjean, my adjutant."

Bradley's one good eye flicked to Jareth's hand. "You know, I'd be far more convinced that you were here in good faith if you were to release my son's friend."

Jareth frowned, and then looked down at the doll he was still clutching. "Oh -! Yes, of course. Sorry." He set Alex down on the banister, where the ten-year-old crossed his arms. Even in the boy's expressionless new body, Bradley got the distinct feeling he was pouting.

"What do you want?" He didn't waste any words – he could only think of one reason that the military would be here. "I'm not coming out of retirement. I'm a single father, and there's three boys who need me."

Diana shook her head slightly, folding her hands behind her back. "Don't worry, sir, I'm not here to persuade you back into the military – as much as I would like to," she amended with a faint blush of hero-worship, which was quickly hidden. "We're here to see William Elric about his brother."

With a sigh borne both of relief for himself and concern for the brother, King relaxed his posture, favouring his right leg and reaching for the cane that lay resting against the chair. "I see. You ran into Alex here and want to know the full story, is that it?" At their nods, King leant into his cane, allowing himself to be an aging man instead of an ex-Major. "Well, I don't know it. You'll have to ask him yourself. But don't you dare give him grief. Otherwise…" The glint in his eye spoke for itself, and he was rewarded with the sight of both soldiers swallowing at the same time. Apparently he hadn't lost his touch.

He opened the door and led the two officers through the house, his flip-flops making almost no noise on the hardwood, while the army boots behind clumped heavily against the same floor. _So much for stealth in the army. I'd hear these idiots coming a mile away._

And finally, they were standing at the head of the bed that held William Elric, the alchemist that they'd been searching for – the son of Hohenheim, who'd sent Diana a desperate epithet scrawled in a nearly-illegible hand – and Diana could only gasp out one thought.

"But…he's…_small…_"

King snorted, pulling up Will's blanket. "Of course he's small, he's eleven. What were you expecting?"

Diana frowned. "Sir, with all due respect, William Elric is supposed to be a thirty-one-year-old alchemist, male, practicing in Rizenbul municipality, son of renowned alchemist Van Hohenheim."

He laughed at that. "Well, you've got all that right except the age." Suddenly his laugh dissolved, his face hardening. "You're here to recruit him, aren't you? I'll have none of my boys hauled away to be one of your dogs."

"Harsh words from you, _Major._"

His brow furrowed even more, and he hoisted up his trouser leg, revealing a dome of automail where his kneecap had been. "This was my payment for serving my country, Colonel. This was done by a State Alchemist." He let his trouser leg fall. "And a year afterwards, my wife was killed by one. Perhaps my words are harsh but that doesn't make them untrue."

Diana folded her arms behind her back. "I won't make him do anything he doesn't want to do."

To her surprise, King broke into a grin again. "I'd like to see you try. He'd jump into a well if you told him not to."

She looked back down – and finally noticed something wrong with how the sheets lay over the child's frame. "What's wrong with him? Why is he here?"

King paused, and then reached down and tugged the sheets down.

"Jesus," whispered Jareth behind her, but no sound escaped her.

His right arm was gone – severed at the shoulder.

"He lost a leg, too," murmured King, restoring the blanket and tucking it in under the bandaged stump. "He's useless to the military, so I suggest you leave. We don't have what you want."

Only Jareth could see how Diana's hands had clenched into fists behind her. "What. _Happened?_"

However, it wasn't King who answered.

"I'll tell you."

Diana looked up in surprise, and two fiery golden eyes stared back at her. "Go down to the house at the base of the hill. The one where they told you we lived – don't look at me like that. It's obvious. If you hadn't found Alex you wouldn't be here. Go there. Look in the basement. Then either come back…" His voice was harsh, too old for eleven. "or run."

The look in his eyes was so hard, so unyielding.

She didn't look away, returning the glare with one of her own. "I'll be back."

Will snorted, turning his head away. "Sure." He didn't quite sound like he believed it.


	4. Bedshaped

**Betaed by the loverly Ashling Ivy ^^**

**Just want to say I'm thrilled with the reception for the new version of this story so far **

**I've drawn a picture of Colonel Solaris! My scanner isn't currently working, but once it is I'll have it up on DA and let people have a look-see. For those who can't wait to see Lust in uniform…there's a great moment in episode 22/23 (can't remember exactly which) of the first series when the homunculi are walking out of Lab 5 in military uniform.**

**Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan: Hehe, I couldn't NOT. And yes! They're such fun characters, all of them – I really wanted more room to play. Thanks for reviewing ^^**

**Shade40: Molly was the doll who starred in Big Comfy Couch, if that helps at all (90s kids UNITE!). As you'll discover, the train scene is rather a defining moment for both characters ^^ I have plans for King, don't you fret :D I always hated how both Winry and Pinako ended up being fairly passive. As for the switches, I really can't picture Envy as anything but an older brother, and I'm going more on personality than circumstances. Envy will get more and more recognizable as time goes on – although I seem to be one of the few people who really, really wanted to see more of his original form (HAWT HAWT HAWT) Thanks for reviewing!**

**Lyrics by Keane.**

~4~

_You'll follow me back  
With the sun in your eyes  
And on your own_

_**-Bedshaped**_

"You foolish, foolish, _foolish _boy."

William snorted, but other than that didn't respond, head turned resolutely away. Diana remained standing at the foot of his bed, letting the heavy silence stretch out. It was just the two of them this time, as she'd directed Valjean to stay outside with the others of the house, namely the doll-boy, the ex-major-turned-mechanic and his son.

"What, in the name of everything alchemy is based on, were – you – _thinking?_"

William shrugged with one shoulder.

"For god's sake, boy, say something!"

"My name is _Will," _he hissed in reply. Well, it was 'something' all right.

"Okay then – Will. Human transmutation is taboo for a reason. You must have known it was taboo. To have the skill to perform it in the first place, you must have known."

He grinned, but it was an empty mockery of a smile. "Yeah. We knew. We did it anyway."

Diana leant forward, gripping the board at the foot of the bed with her gloved hands. "Why? Who were you trying to bring back? Who did you transmute?"

Will closed his eyes, refusing to look at her. "Mom," he finally said, with a telltale choke in his voice.

"Oh." Her grip loosened.

"Now are you going to _go away?_"

"So you transmuted your mother," she mused, "and you lost your arm and leg, and your brother lost his body? Equivalent exchange for…"

He didn't respond for a long time. Diana wondered if he'd fallen asleep. Then – "Just my leg. Took my arm to bind him to the doll."

"I see." She sat down on the chair next to his bed, hands folded.

"Why aren't you _gone _yet?" he complained, words slightly muffled. "Go away. You're annoying."

"Good. At least I'm annoying you into talking. How long have you lain here in misery?"

"None of your business."

"I'd say not too long yet. You haven't even begun getting automail surgery."

"I'm not _getting _automail."

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, leaning back. "Oh? Then what?"

"I don't know."

"What are you going to do with your life?" She inspected her nails. "I mean, you _could _lie here and rot away, having failed in what you tried to do. Of course, that leaves Alex in the form of a doll."

"Shut up!" He opened his eyes, molten gold broiling in his sockets. "You can't just – you can't – you –"

"I'm giving you an option, William." She pulled the watch out of her pocket and let it dangle from her fingers, swinging back and forth like a pendulum. She could see how it caught his eyes, giving a shine to the otherwise dull gold. "What you did was taboo. But it was also incredibly difficult – _and you survived."_

"So what? I might as well be dead. Alex too."

"There is a huge, huge difference between being dead and wishing you were. I'd say surviving a backlash that large, not to mention setting it into motion in the first place, gives you an edge for the State Alchemist exam." She caught the watch and restored it to its place. "What do you say?"

"Hell no."

"Excuse me?" She tried to look surprised.

"Sorry, was that not clear enough for you?" he sneered, lip rising to bare his teeth. "_Fuck. No._"

"Won't you even consider it?"

"Let's see." He pulled a faux-thinking face. "I'm half-gone. My brother's a doll. Our great transmutation which we spent _years _planning failed. We still don't have any parents. _What the hell do you think?_"

"What if I gave you a reason?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Can't think of any."

So Diana leant down until her cheek rested on the pillow, her hot breath tickling his ear, and whispered in a silky voice full of promise and temptation, "What if I told you that there just might be a way to fix things?"

* * *

Diana emerged about ten minutes later with a self-satisfied smirk, and Jareth held his breath, waiting to hear what had gone wrong.

"Let's go, Lieutenant."

He managed to keep his face from betraying his surprise. "Uh…okay. I mean, yes sir!" He got to his feet and gave King a salute before taking his place behind Diana.

"Oh, and, uh…bye." He wiggled his fingers at Selim and Alex – the first smiled nervously, obviously intimidated by him. The second…well, he didn't expect much from the second.

It was only until they were halfway down the hill that he finally found the courage to ask. "Okay, Di, what did you do?"

"Do? I didn't do anything."

"You know what I mean."

She flashed him a dazzling grin over her shoulder. "Like I said…Jareth. I didn't do a _thing. _Now, completely unrelated, we'll have some visitors in a few years. Or maybe just the one."

Jareth resisted the urge to thwack something – or some_one _– with the butt of his gun. "What kind of visitor?"

"The type who wants to become a State Alchemist." She said it in such a sweetly innocent voice that Jareth actually _relaxed – _before the words actually made it to his brain.

"WHAT? Are you NUTS?"

"Maybe."

Jareth reached forward and smacked her lightly on the back of the head. "That's a bad way to get to the top –"

Before he'd even pulled back, she spun on her heel, pulling one hand out of her pocket and readying it in front of his face, ready to snap. "Maybe. Is this better?"

At the same time, he pulled his gun from its holster and pointed at her stomach. "I don't know. Still got a few kinks."

They stood like that for a while, stalemated into silence, until she pulled back with a wry smile, resuming her previous position. "I love you."

He reholstered his gun. "Love you too."

* * *

"Selim! MR. BRADLEY!"

The call came on the heels of the departure of the soldiers; with a worried glance exchanged between the two Bradleys, Selim bolted into the house.

"What's the matter, Will?" he asked breathlessly as he reached the side of the bed.

Will threw back his head onto the pillows and _laughed._

King appeared a few moments later, Alex perched on his shoulder. "What's all this ruckus?"

Will kept laughing, on the edge of hysterics – he couldn't quite articulate what he felt.

There was HOPE.

There was hope, and he was going to grab it – with _both _damnhands.

"Get me the fuck out of this bed. I want to get into a wheelchair, I want some ports, and I want you to make me some automail."


	5. Into The Open Air

**Having troubles with Seven Names so here's another chappie! We'll be getting into some serious divergences soon, but the little things are already building up.**

**Fairyboydammit: Hehe, yeah. That's one of my favourite things about that particular switcheroo (and one of my least favourite things about the Royai pairing – why is she not in charge?) so it's awesome to see other people enjoying it. Thanks for reviewing **

**Shade40: Yay! I had such a hard time reminding myself to keep Diana in character – she's uncomfortably close to one of my original characters, so I have to keep myself on track :P I'm glad it worked though ^^ And I know, right? Al lucked out with the armour – Alex gets stuck with a crappy doll. It's not exactly like Molly though – no big red nose, for one. He doesn't have a nose (I think). I'll draw a picture at some point. As for 2003/2009 canons, it's a mix of both for characters. It's hard to tell, but there's a billion stealth puns for Selim as Pride. As for plot…you have to wait and see :D Thanks for reviewing as always, you're awesome ^^**

**Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan: Thanks! I really didn't like that scene in either of the canons :P And 'uncooperative' is pretty much Will in a nutshell, even more than Ed. (I can't wait to make them meet.) Jareth and Diana are AMAZING (I'm allowed to say that, right?) Greed and Lust needed more scenes, because they would have played out something like this. And I'm glad they're funnier than Roy and Riza They're definitely more comfortable with each other. Thanks for reviewing **

~5~

_I try to speak to you everyday  
but each word we spoke, the wind blew away_

_**-Into The Open Air**_

Rizenbul had always had an automail mechanic. For years it had been Faber Automail, passed down the family line until there was a single daughter; Minna Faber. While she had thrown herself into the business with gusto, with her marriage the name had changed to Bradley Automail.

Although a soldier, King had just as much interest in automail as his wife (otherwise it was doubtful she would have deigned to marry him) and every chance he got, he learned from her. However, once and only once in their marriage did he ever install a port without her.

It was a month shy of a year from his retirement; a week before her ill-fated train ride. The patient was their youngest yet, sixteen years old with an amputated leg.

Minna had held Selim tightly against her chest as the screams echoed through the house. "It's okay, love."

Selim tried to hold back his tears. "They're _hurting, _Mama," he'd murmured. "Please make him stop."

"He can't, dear. This is how Lysander's going to get his new leg."

He sniffed. "How? I don't get it. You showed me the metal leg but I don't get it."

Minna hesitated for a moment, wondering if eight was too young. She had started learning at six, and Selim was uncommonly smart… "Here, let me show you." With one arm still clasped around his shoulders, she pulled a notebook and pencil from his drawer and began to sketch out the key systems. Much to her surprise and glee, Selim's eyes brightened as he took them in.

"So…it's gonna hurt a lot at first, but that's what makes it worth it later on?"

Minna nodded. "That's what makes automail better than prosthetics. Not only is there a wider range of motion comparable to – oops, sorry, love – not only does it move almost like a real arm, using the nerves means that there are pressure sensors."

"So…" Selim tapped his chin. "So they can pick up eggs and stuff without squishing them!"

"Exactly!" The screams were nothing but background noise now, and Minna gave Selim another hug. "Ohh, I'm so proud of you. You're going to be a great automail mechanic one day."

Two years later, it was Selim's turn to help install a port – two ports – and even with his mother's words (the theory of Equivalent Exchange, if he'd understood it) he felt like throwing up. Lysander's pain washing through the house had been bad enough – but now it was going to be _Will's._

And he was going to be causing it.

"Selim, are you ready?" King appeared in the mirror, surgical mask covering half of his face.

Selim took a deep, shaking breath, and pulled on his white gloves. Those and his apron would be covered in blood by the end of this, he knew. It made his stomach turn.

"Listen…" King dropped to one knee in front of him, grasping both of his shoulders. "You don't need to help me, son. You're…you're too young. I can do this on my own."

He shook his head. "No, I want to help. And I'm _not _too young. Mum started helping with surgeries when she was nine."

"She started sitting in, not actively participating –"

"Besides, Will's my friend. And there's two ports, you _do _need my help." Selim set his face in the most imposing expression he could think of – although judging on how King started laughing afterwards, it wasn't quite as impressive as he'd hoped.

"Alright, alright! You may be my son, but you've got a streak of your mother in you a mile and a half wide. Get your mask on."

With a nod, Selim looped the bands over his ears. He was going to do this _right._

* * *

"But Brother –"

Will grabbed Alex in his hand, squeezing tightly enough that the doll couldn't move either of his arms. "I said _no, _Alex."

"I just wanna make sure you're okay."

"And I will be. You _won't _if you insist on sitting in and watching me get cut up."

Alex blew a raspberry. "I'll be _fine. _I want to do this!"

"Alex. You're ten."

"So's Selim!"

"You're a pussy. He's not."

King walked in time for the last comment and burst out laughing as Alex wriggled indignantly in Will's grip, railing at his brother. "Will, be nice."

"What's that?" he asked, dropping Alex unceremoniously onto the bedsheets.

"FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO GET MY BODY BACK, YOU SEEM TO BE ENJOYING THIS A LOT!"

He patted Alex on the head. "Oh, don't be silly. I've always been able to pick you up with one hand. Midget."

"At least I don't try on skirts when I think nobody's looking!"

Without so much as a glance Alex's way, Will flicked him off of the bed. "Get lost," he muttered, and then smiled at King, the vein in his forehead pulsing ever so slightly. "Let's get started."

* * *

Alex sat outside the door of the surgery, not daring to peek inside – equally in fear of what he'd see and of his brother's wrath. They were close as far as brothers went, but that didn't mean Will wouldn't take advantage of the fact that Alex couldn't feel pain anymore to get a couple kicks in.

Then again, maybe the advantage lay more with _him, _thought Alex as a particularly emphatic curse made it through the door. Will hadn't screamed yet, although he hadn't known an eleven-year-old could know that many swear words. He wasn't sure he'd repeated himself yet.

_Probably learned half of them from Teacher…_

If he'd been capable of it, Alex would have blanched at the thought.

"Ohhh, we're dead," he muttered.

* * *

Selim collapsed into the wooden chair with a sigh, moving to wipe his face then stopping before he smeared blood all over his forehead. They'd _done _it. _He'd _done it.

"Congratulations, Selim," said King quietly, a note of clear pride in his voice. Leaning down, he inserted the needle into the vein that pulsed in Will's intact arm, injecting the morphine into his bloodstream. "There, I think he's deserved that. And you," he cast Selim a warm smile, "have deserved a rest."

"What about…" Selim took a deep breath. "What about the bolting?"

"I'll take care of it. You've done a fantastic job, son. Go get cleaned up."

With a nod, Selim pushed himself up and dragged himself towards the door. Three hours of pulling nerves through the holes of the honeycombed port, capping them with conductive steel and grouping them into sections for the _second _part of the port…it was tiring, it was nervewracking (pun not intended) and it was repetitive. At least Will hadn't screamed. And the swearing _had _been entertaining to a point, even if Selim had an urge to clean out his ears with soap after a few of them.

He opened the door – and started. "Oh, hi, Alex."

"Hey. Is he alright? Can I see him?"

Selim nodded, but stopped Alex with his foot. "He's going to be fine, but you can't see him yet. Dad's doing the last bit."

"The…the last bit?"

He nodded, and closing the door, crouched down. "The hard part's over. We can't use any anaesthetic for when we're working with the nerves. But now he's doped up and Dad can bolt the two halves of the port together and to the bone."

"To the bone? _That's_ gonna hurt."

"Well, yeah, that's why he's on meds. He can't feel it. He'll be sore when it wakes up though." Alex began to snigger, and Selim swatted him. "You have a dirty mind!"

"Do nooot…"

"You do too."

"Well, I live with Will! What do you expect?" Alex stopped sniggering and sighed. "I shoulda learned about automail instead of alchemy…seems a lot more useful."

"Alchemy's useful too. Don't tell Will I admitted to it though."

"I won't. But…" Alex sighed again. "I mean, we…I…it was so _stupid! _And automail's not gonna do anything _but _help people!"

"Have you done any since…you know?"

He nodded guiltily. "A couple times I've cracked a little bit, I fixed myself up. Don't tell Will. He hasn't touched it."

Selim frowned. "Doesn't he want to become a State Alchemist? How's he gonna -?"

"I dunno. He's Will. He doesn't…think things through."

He snorted despite himself, straightening up. "That's an understatement. I'm gonna get cleaned up, wanna go feed Den after?"

"Sure! As long as she doesn't try to eat me again."

* * *

As Selim peeled off his bloodstained gloves and ran them under cold water, he thought back to some of the few non-X-rated words Will had said during the surgery.

_"I-it's my fault," _he'd whispered urgently, staring into Selim's eyes with the gaze of a madman and strings of hair clinging to his sweat-stained forehead. _"It's my fault – I – I – I tried to, to, stop it halfway through, tried to stop – it's my fault it – backlashed – don't tell Alex – please – don't tell him –"_

Don't tell Will.

Don't tell Alex.

Selim couldn't even begin to understand those brothers.


	6. Misguided Ghosts

**UNBETAED – I'll be posting the betaed version pretty soon, but I just wanted to get some version of it up while I had some source of internet. It's kind of patchy right now, and I'm feeling bad about how glacially this is going. (Well. By *my* standards.)**

**Gah, so slow. Sorry for the snail's-pace of the story, but I'm really trying to get a handle on the characters before things really get going (and I wanted to dork out over automail a bit). I'll be taking bits from both animes, as is obvious from the inclusion of both Selim and Wrath as homunculi, but the major plot itself isn't going to be revealed just yet. Some fillers will be used, some won't – depending on which ones I _liked. _Haha.**

**Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan: Writing them arguing is one of the reasons I started writing this in the first place. It's so true, it's the typical sibling interaction - my brother and I are kind of like that too. That's why I don't like Winry as much as some of the other characters - she worries about them constantly and then doesn't seem to flinch at all at causing Ed pain...Selim's also younger, though, so there's that. Aw, poor Alex. Being tiny sucks. (Ed: NOW YOU UNDERSTAAAND! Alex: YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DOESN'T!)**

**Shade40: I wish there had been a scene like that, it would have made me like her a lot more. I really enjoyed writing it, because I had to really imagine what it would be like to be a ten-year-old boy doing that to my friend. One thing I should say about the characters - what I'm trying to do here is represent the 'human' sides of the sins. That's not to say that they won't have their moments of wrath, envy, pride and such, but who they are here are who they could have been. Therefore, King isn't Wrath OR Pride - he's King Bradley. He embodies both, because everybody has a bit of everything, but what's really showing through is the part of him that couldn't be quite explained away by either of his names. That's why I'm mixing both animes - Wrath and Selim both have very human parts to them that get lost under their evilness, and Envy is the same. ****As for the teacher, it's still Izumi. Greed is Jareth Valjean, the Lieutenant from earlier serving under Diana (Lust) and Sloth and Gluttony have yet to show up. (To be honest, Gluttony might not at all.)**

**Paul1233: I'm glad you like it :) I've got big plans for it, hopefully they'll pan out!**

**Thank you everybody for reading and reviewing :)**

**Lyrics are by Paramore.**

~6~

_We all learn to make mistakes and run from them, from them_

_with no direction_

_we'll run from them, run from them_

_with no conviction_

_**-Misguided Ghosts**_

He dragged his hand slowly over it, feeling every ridge, every bolt, every contour of the metal. The upper arm was like a Russian doll – interlocking shells, one inside the other, curving down from the shoulder and stopping just above the round nuts that steadied the mechanics inside. Down, down, down – his hand caught on each level, but they weren't sharp, filed down to a rounded edge – and it transformed into an elbow joint. The lower arm was two pieces of metal bolted together, grooves carved deep into the top. Down again. He rotated the wrist joint around, feeling how the ball moved in its socket, and touched each of the fingers in turn.

After a long time, he looked up. "This is my arm?" he asked, almost incredulous.

"Do you like it?" Selim's face was hopeful, and Will couldn't stop himself from grinning at his expression.

"You made it, huh, Sel?" Will reached over and ran his hand down the leg, trying to imagine wearing it – _owning _it – it being part of him. "Pretty good – for a ten-year-old."

"Sh-shut up!" Still, he looked pleased. "Today's the earliest we can try connecting it, but if you want to wait –"

"I want it now." At King's wary expression, Will added, "I gotta get started on rehab."

Selim nodded, but the older man still looked uneasy. Will sighed. "Look, old man, I'm gonna figure out how to put things right. To do that, I need to become a State Alchemist –" he didn't miss the tightening of King's lips, " –and to do _that, _I need to learn how to use these, and fast."

"Proper rehabilitation takes at least two years."

"Yeah, well, I'll do it in one." Will struggled to lift both the arm and leg off of his lap. "Hook me up."

Selim gave his father a pleading look, and with a sigh, King caved. "Fine. But if you hurt yourself you have to give yourself _proper _rest."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," William said distractedly, but his eyes were fixed on the limbs that would be his soon.

* * *

"Why aren't they _working?_"

"They are! It takes time, and work, and more time, and more work –"

"And more time, and more work, yeah, I get it," groused Will, who was now trapped in a staring match with his own right hand. "What I don't get is _why!_"

"Your body needs to figure out what the new limb is. The more you send it messages, the more it'll learn what function the arm is supposed to serve."

"Huh. Okay. So I just need to keep trying to move it. All. The. Time."

"Just make sure you don't tire yourself out!"

Will gave Selim a glare so sharp and so icy that the younger boy suddenly remembered that he'd left some of his tools in a dreadful mess in the other room.

* * *

"Check it out, Alex! I'm walking!"

Alex clapped, wishing his grin was outwardly apparent. He couldn't, however, avoid a little dig. "Only took you nine months."

Will, who was leaning heavily on Selim, scowled at him where he sat on the stairs. "Look what else I can do." He flipped him off with his metal hand.

* * *

It was another two months before he could walk on his own, but he did it, staring up at the sun unblinkingly and his gold hair in freefall over his shoulders. He was _standing. _Seven months trapped in a bed, dependent on Selim and King and Alex and now he was _standing _on his own two legs.

He turned around, still wobbly. Selim and Alex were watching, the young mechanic just about bursting with pride. _Oh for the love of –_

"Hey Selim!" he called out. "Get over here so I can kick your ass for being such a sop!"

"Who're you calling a sop?" he called back, already breaking into a run towards the center of the field. William stretched out his arms as if inviting him for a hug – and then stepped carefully to the side and clotheslined him right in the hug.

"OW! Will! You jerk!" Selim collapsed onto the ground, completely winded and glaring up at his attacker. "That was _not nice!_"

"Psch. Don't be such a wuss."

"YOUR ARM IS MADE OF STEEL!"

Will chuckled, opening and closing his fist. He still couldn't use the arm for anything heavy – it would be at least another two months of rehabilitation until he was officially 'recovered'. Still, King had grudgingly admitted that the effort he'd put in was showing.

That sent a shiver of anticipation up his spine. All the pain and frustration of the last year, _everything – _it was going to be worth it in the end.

"Stop jumping on my stomach, Alex, that's not helping!"

"But it's like a trampoline!"

Will looked up, for a moment expecting to see his brother with his dark-brown hair and matching gold eyes, leaping on Selim's stomach with his usual cheerful grin and reckless demeanour and limbs flying akimbo. He honestly forgot for a millisecond, a precious flicker –

-and saw the doll, with Alex's voice and Alex's chuckle, in his place. The doll, with black yarn and black eyes instead of the colours of the autumn sun. The doll, stiff and jointed instead of rosy and happy.

His victory turned to ashes into his mouth, and he spat into the grass in an attempt to get rid of the bitter taste. _It's not a victory, it's a stepping stone. A small one at that._

Will turned and walked away, sticking his hands into his pockets with a dark look.

"Hey, where are you going?" Selim, apparently recovered, came running up behind him.

"Got something I need to do. Alex, you coming?"

After exchanging a glance with Selim, Alex crawled onto his brother's shoulder. "Sure."

"We'll be back later."

The dark-eyed boy looked worried, but sighed. "Alright. We're having stew, if you're late you don't get any."

Will merely shrugged, and started taking slow steady steps around the house, down the hill –

"What are we doing, Brother?"

He didn't respond. After a moment, he bent down and untied his shoes, shaking them off and throwing them to the side. He'd had to practice his fine-motor skills countless times, but he much preferred the feel of the grass against his bare feet. Foot.

"Brother," said Alex again.

Will didn't speak, and he didn't stop until they'd reached the closest wall of the house that had been their home for so long. Funny, though, when he thought about it, eight years didn't seem like long at all.

"What are we doing here?" He still sounded like such a kid, but he'd just turned eleven –

"We're burning it down." Will's voice sounded hollow even to him, but Alex seemed to take him at his word.

"What? No! Why? We're – no! No we're not!"

"Yes," he growled, "we are."

"But _why?_"

"I can't come back, Alex. Once I go to Central and become a State Alchemist, that's it. No turning back. No second thoughts. No second chances."

"That's _stupid,_" complained Alex petulantly, at which point Will ripped the doll from his shoulder and threw him to the ground.

"You don't even remember, damn you! You don't remember the Gate and you don't remember _Truth _mocking you and taking…" Will balled his new hand into a fist. "I promised Mom I'd protect you and look what a _fucking _good job I'm doing. So I'm gonna fix it. I'm gonna fix all of it, no _matter what it takes!" _He punctuated his last word by swivelling sharply around and driving his fist into the wall. The bricks gave way beneath the metal, although there was a quiet crumpling sound as two of the fingerguards bent.

He fell to his knees, and the sound of muffled crying came to his ears. "Oh shut _up,_" he muttered out of habit.

"Wh-what if we make things worse? I'm – I – I can _live_ like this, but I…" Alex gulped, a strange sound orphaned of its gesture. "Can't we just…live?"

The idea had its temptations. And Will knew, if it had just been him, he would have accepted a life in Rizenbul without any second thoughts. Automail was common these days, and he could accept those consequences without complaint.

But Alex had been bullied and cajoled into the transmutation, just like Will bullied and cajoled him into everything else. Will had promised a dying woman that he would take care of his brother, and he'd forced him into a death-defying transmutation that had doomed him to…_this._

He shook his head. "No. I'm gonna put things right."

"Then at least let's go inside." Alex sniffled again, and Will wondered how much of it was just habit. He didn't have a _nose _to sniffle. "I'm not burning everything. I'm _not._"

Will couldn't help but smile slightly. It wasn't often Alex actually had the guts to stand up to him.

"Well then," he got to his feet and held his hand to the ground, "we'd better go take a look."

* * *

Will had always had an eye for beauty. Not the way he heard older men talk, about how 'hot' girls were or whatever – but simple things, like pictures, clothes, and so on.

So it wasn't _really _bragging to say that he looked really, really good in a skirt.

He cast a nervous look at the door, and then back at the mirror. He'd only dared to try on Mom's clothes a few times. The first time he'd been overwhelmed with guilt, and the second time he'd been keenly aware that boys weren't supposed to want to wear girl-clothes so much. The third (and last) time, Alex had walked in, and even now occasionally got in a dig about it.

This time, though, he just didn't give a damn what anybody else said. The skirt was black and loose, swishing very comfortably around his knees, and on top he wore a sleeveless turtleneck that managed to show off the automail while concealing all the scars. He wasn't about to hide his metal limbs, but the scars themselves were ugly.

That thought gave him pause. He _wasn't _going to hide them. Sure, he'd have to lie when he was asked how he lost his limbs to begin with, but he wasn't going to hide them. They were dangerous, they were a warning, and they were his price.

He stood up as straight as he could, trying to look older, taller, stronger than he felt. Trying to look like something other than a boy in his mother's clothes.

* * *

They ended up taking very little. Alex didn't need much, and things that had seemed so important – books, stuffed toys, old pictures brought proudly home from school – suddenly seemed insignificant. There'd be books by the thousands in Central's libraries, especially the state branches; they were too old for toys now; and there was no one to pat them on the head and make them feel proud of finger-paintings.

The sun was beginning to sink low in the sky by the time they walked out, Will with his one black suitcase and Alex holding onto the back of his neck, and the house seemed filled with ghosts. They crowded at the windows and the doors, crawled up the walls and swung off the eaves of the roof, whispering and beseeching him not to destroy them. Mom reached out her arms, eyes as soft and warm as always before transforming into the abomination they'd created. And unseen, unknown but always there, their father, his absence the biggest ghost of them all.

Will had known since he'd decided to become a State Alchemist that he was going to burn their home down. It had only truly crystallized a few weeks previously, but still, his hand, creeping into his pocket, found a lighter there. It was the dry season – a single spark would catch well enough.

He flicked the lighter on and laid it at the doorway, the tiny flame flickering against the wood of the frame. A few moments later, the wood began to darken, turning black. A tongue of fire began to creep upwards.

He could hear Alex crying again, the strange, disembodied sound sending shivers up his spine. Still, he stood and watched. They'd cut out all the grass around it so that the fire wouldn't spread. No alchemy. He hadn't performed a transmutation since that night. He'd have to eventually – no way around it – but he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

Will turned and began to walk back up the hill. No turning back. Another week or two, and he'd be on the train to Central. To start his new life.

And to be honest – he couldn't wait.


	7. Acadia

**UNBETAED (for now)**

**Did I say no pairings? Er. Er. Uh. I swear, no pairings! (For now.)**

**Sorry for the delay D: I've got a lot of things on the go right now. But I have been constantly working on this, no worries.**

**Shade40: I think I may have skimped too much on the description, sadly. The biggest giveaway is probably his sunglasses. And yes, that was deliberate That's always been my favourite sequence with Wrath, and I wanted to play with it. And yeah, I hated that too _ Hence Alex being a bit different. Thanks for reviewing, your comments are always awesome **

**Cecil Kain Cerberus: **blush** Thank youuuuu so muuuuuch that's so sweet! I'm so happy you're enjoying this – when I first had the idea I was like "no, it's too weird" but apparently not ^^ I'm afraid I don't have much awesomeness to bask in, but here's a cookie **

**Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan: Alex is much less a Shadow Archetype of Will than Al was of Ed, which is where a lot of the differences come in. And Will's aversion becomes important later on :D Thanks for reviewing ^^**

**Fairyboydammit: Oh dear, hopefully you don't pass out from giddiness since the waits are so long…_ One of the things I was worried about was making them too similar, but I'm glad to hear the little bits I'm putting in are working And yes! I'm looking forward to that bit too ^^ Thanks for reviewing~**

**The lyrics are by Marianas Trench.**

~7~

_But I remember where it began  
Left behind me  
Sometimes it reminds me of when we, we used to belong here_

_**-Acadia**  
_

"Keep it oiled and lubricated, and for god's sake, don't you _dare _damage it!"

Will grabbed the finger that Selim was currently waving in his face. "Stop that, you insufferable little brat, or I'll crush your finger."

"You wouldn't. Not with _my own automail,_" pronounced Selim with no shortage of pride. Will rolled his eyes, aware of Alex laughing against his neck, where he'd perched himself. He was glad to keep his hair loose – it gave Alex something to hide behind. The train station was crowded with all manner of people this time of year, and the last thing Will wanted was attention.

"I'm serious, though," he added after a moment. "You already managed to dent the finger-guards punching bricks. You can't _do _that. It's steel, not diamond."

"I won't, I won't," said Will distractedly, looking around. He'd been down to the Rizenbul train station a few times before, but only once before to ride a train – and never without an adult. "So…they'll tell me when we get to Central, right?"

"Yes, don't worry." King smiled encouragingly, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Will considered pushing it off, but decided to let it be. "And Central Station is the last stop anyway, so there we are." He glanced down, smile faltering slightly. "Will, are you _sure _you don't want to-"

"Yes, I'm sure," he interrupted, trying not to roll his eyes. They'd had this discussion about five times over the last week.

"It's just…The last thing you want to do is draw attention –"

"Old man, I'll be drawing attention as it is. I'm wearing what I want." Still, he reached down and tugged self-consciously at the hem of his skirt.

Selim, being Selim, hadn't even noticed at first, and blithely ignored Will's choices of clothing for the most part. Whether that was from being off in his own little world or genuinely respecting his choices, Will didn't know.

"Well then…" King held out his hand, weathered face crinkling into a smile. "Good luck, Will."

He looked at the hand apprehensively for a moment, and then took it. Even with the automail, his hand just about disappeared into King's, and he was sure he heard it rattle as the older man gave it a decisive shake.

Selim grinned. "You'll be great."

"Course I will. I always am." He'd meant just to walk away, but even without Alex tightening slightly on the back of his neck, he knew it wasn't enough. He enveloped Selim in a tight hug, tucking his tousled brown head under his chin. Somewhere in the last year, he'd grown and Selim hadn't. Just another change.

"Sel…I, uh…"

"I know," he interrupted with a cheeky grin. "Don't kill yourself saying it."

Will didn't have a response to that, so he just poked Selim in the side. Instead of yelping like usual, though, the eleven-year-old butted his head into his chest softly.

The train whistle interrupted them, and they leapt apart, Will almost stumbling to the ground. "A-anyway…"

"We'll call!" piped up Alex, much to his relief.

"You'd _better._"

Finally, he tore himself away, leaping onto the train with his suitcase in hand. Somehow he managed to find his way down through the narrow aisle, pushing past people of all shapes and sizes who seemed to be moving around for no other purpose than making life difficult for him. Eventually he plopped down on one of the wooden benches, looking out of the window.

The Bradleys were still there, and Selim, eyes roving up and down the train, found him with a grin. Standing on his tiptoes, he waved, and with a wry chuckle, Will wiggled his fingers in reply.

The train began to move. Slowly, steadily, the small boy with his thatch of chocolate-coloured hair and his straight-backed, grizzled father began to disappear into the distance. Will watched them go, and in the glass, he could see Alex's face just as intent.

After a few minutes, the Rizenbul station could no longer be seen. However, they both kept watching, just like they had the last time they'd ridden a train. This time, though, they weren't off to an apprenticeship, in search of a way to bring their mother back. This time they were on their own, and the search had changed.

"Look!" exclaimed Alex in a moment of wonder. It took Will a moment to figure out what he was pointing to – without distinct fingers, a lot of accuracy was lost – but once he saw it, he couldn't help smiling.

It was the house on the hill, standing just above the rest of Rizenbul and visible for a few minutes between the rest of the foothills.

Will sat back, suddenly exhausted. It felt so bizarre to have really, truly _begun. _A year had passed since he'd first decided to become a State Alchemist (and he still hadn't done any alchemy – _worry about that later dammit) _and it still felt surreal.

"What was her name again? The woman who came to visit us?"

Alex thought for a moment. "Uhh…Colonel…Solaris! That was her."

"Alright." Will raised his head for a moment. "Hold on, weren't we supposed to-"

"Before we –"

"Shit." After a moment, he laughed. "Ah well, too late now. We'll make it a surprise."

"What if she doesn't like surprises, brother?"

Will blew a raspberry. "Don't be stupid. Everyone loves surprises."

* * *

"I hate surprises," pronounced Colonel Diana Solaris with a face like thunder as she walked into her office brandishing a piece of paper.

"What's the matter, boss?" asked one hapless 2nd Lieutenant, looking up just in time to have his cigarette snatched away.

"The Eastern rebels. Turns out the leader of that group we've been tracking escaped a _week _ago and only now has anyone thought to inform me. Good thing Hughes already knows." She slid behind her desk with a sigh and picked up the phone, dialing a number. "Hughes. Hughes!"

"_Yes, darling?_"

She suppressed a groan, although the urge to smile was there as well. "Don't call me that. We're working and you're married."

"_Oh, well, I love you, Diana, but it's true that no one can compare to the glistening flower who is Gracia! Oh, she's even more beautiful now she's pregnant, it's absolutely fantastic, and we've decided on baby names, too! It was a hell of a choice, though, we couldn't decide between Raphael and Gabriel for a boy, although we know we'll call our little girl Elysia-"_

Diana looked up with a sly smile. "Valjean, do you think it's possible to set someone on fire over a phone line?"

The Lieutenant, calmly organizing files in another corner, didn't even bother replying, although he grinned along with her.

Maes cleared his throat on the other end of the line. _"No need for that, Diana. What do you want to know?_"

"How's the sweep going, first of all?"

_"Initial sweep didn't reveal anything, but that means squat. Falman's doing a secondary sweep to see if I missed anything, but other than that, we're just going to have to stay on guard._"

"Alright. And the General?"

_"Safe, happy, cheerful._" The Lieutenant-Colonel's voice was wry. _"He'd better be with all the work we're doing._"

"Good. Just keep doing routine checks after each stop – at a station or not – and stay alert. Call me back if anything else happens."

_"Sure thing, Diana._"

"Oh, and one last thing. Would it kill you to at least pretend to be professional?"

Maes laughed heartily. "_Maybe. Would it kill you to relax?_"

"Maybe. Go do your job."

"_Later, Colonel._"

She hung up the phone and glared icily up at Valjean, who had at some point made his way across the room to stand in front of her desk with a shit-eating grin.

"You," she growled. "This is your fault."

He pulled a look of mock innocence, gesturing at his chest with wide eyes. "My fault? What on earth do you mean…_Colonel?_"

She narrowed her eyes in return. "_You_ told him to join the military with you. _You _were friends with him. And somehow you convinced _me _to be friends with him. And now I'm being babbled at about baby names while a train is possibly in danger."

Valjean laughed after a moment of shellshock. "Come on, you know he'd be all business if there _was _any danger. Besides, a baby is pretty cool."

"I'm sure. How do you feel about being an uncle?"

Just as she knew he would, Valjean shuddered. "I'll pass on that. Imagine babysitting a little Maes!"

"I'd rather not."

"So…" He lowered his sunglasses, purple eyes serious. "What do we do now?"

"Wait. It's all we can do."

He growled, but said nothing, sitting down in a chair and folding one leg over the other. Diana could feel his usual discomfort with the uniform – he preferred outfits of a different type, better suited to combat, but as an officer and not a State Alchemist he didn't have that flexibility. It was just pure luck that he hadn't been court-martialled for his _hair _yet. That many spikes had to be a hazard to somebody.

She remained outwardly calm. It was a gift that Valjean didn't share, her ability to stay composed at all times. Inside, however, there was something niggling at her – something keeping her on edge.

* * *

"Hi!"

Will ignored the voice. Probably some stupid brat talking to some stupid stranger.

"Aren'tcha gonna say somethin', miss?"

Some stupid female stranger.

"Halloooo?"

Finally, Will couldn't ignore the little girl any longer – she was now tugging at the hem of his skirt. Turning his head towards her, he growled, "I'm not a girl, now move along."

She stuck out her lip, which was trembling rather ominously. Will rolled his eyes. "Oh for chrissakes –"

She began to bawl.

"Oh, wait, hold on, sh – no wait I can't say that –" He clapped a hand against his forehead.

"Brother, you're hopeless." Alex walked along his shoulder and jumped down onto the seat. The girl stopped crying immediately at the sight of him, eyes going wide with wonder.

"Hi there," he said cheerily. She blinked, and then her tearstained face split into a grin.

"You're a dolly!"

"Yes, yes I am. My name's Alex. What's yours?"

"I'm Millie!"

Will rolled his eyes. He didn't like kids at the best of times, and being called a girl didn't rank high on his list of 'good omens'. Not that he was superstitious either.

He glanced up – and made sudden eye contact with a grey-haired man with a panicked expression. He seemed to be struggling to say something.

He groaned. King had been right after all. Not that he'd ever let the dumb geriatric _know… _"Yeah. I'm wearing a skirt. Deal with it, old man."

The man's eyes flickered down to where Alex was chatting with Millie, and suddenly made a face like he'd been winded. A second later, he was dashing down the length of the train.

Will's spine tingled with uneasiness. He turned to Alex, about to tell him to keep out of sight, when Millie rushed over to him and asked, "M-uh, Mister, w-why do you have a metal leg?"

"I, uh…" Shit. He hadn't actually thought of what to tell people yet. "Uh…"

She looked up at him expectantly, eyes wide and bright. Her tears were already forgotten – and suddenly, he remembered telling tall tales to Alex and the other village kids.

He grinned. "I lost my real one in a fight with a dragon."

"A _dragon?_" She gasped, and crawled up on the seat next to him. "What kinda dragon?"

"It was as big as this train, with lots of green scales and teeth as big as your arm…"

* * *

The phone rang, and Diana almost dropped it with how quickly she brought it to her ear. "Colonel Solaris – oh, it's you, Maes."

"_Hey, Di. Falman just got back from his sweep, and he's in a bit of a state."_

Her grip tightened on the phone. "What? What's the matter?"

_"He says there's a talking doll on the train."_

She blinked. "Pardon me?"

_"That's what I said, too. It's a doll – a wooden doll, like little girls play with, and it's moving and talking."_

It took her a moment, and suddenly, she was seized with an urge to burn something. "Your train stops in Rizenbul, doesn't it?"

_"Yeah, that was the last stop."_

"Was the doll with a blond, probably with automail?"

Maes was quiet for a moment, although Diana could hear the quiet sounds of his discussion with Falman. After a few seconds, he spoke again. _"Yeah, a crossdresser."_

"…Well, that's new."

"_You know these people?_"

She sighed. "Unfortunately. The blond's a State Alchemist potential and the doll is his brother. It's a long story. I'll have to have a chat with them about discretion."

_"Alright. So no worries?_"

Diana paused before answering. "No."

_"I'll take your word for it._" He didn't quite sound like he believed her. "_I'll keep you updated._"

"Thank you." She slammed the phone down onto its cradle. "Damn it!"

Valjean looked up from inspecting his nails. "So they came after all?"

"Yes! And they didn't call me ahead of time – which means they're on that train." She took a deep breath. "Idiots."

"They're kids."

"I know. The last thing I want is for them to get caught in the crossfire." She sighed again, and then smirked. "Well, at least they won't disobey my orders again after this."

It was a foolish hope, but she wasn't to know that yet.


	8. Search and Destroy

**UNBETAED (for now)**

**Extra-long-chappie-time!**

**I actually rewatched the episode for this...I'd forgotten how epic it was XD Turns out 'Millie' actually had a canon name, but whatever. I guess it's a different girl, then.**

**I had a lot of fun changing Mustang's dialogue to Diana's. They are actually SO different. Go watch the exchange between Bard and Mustang in the episode and compare it to this one. I didn't change a word of Bard's dialogue, for extra shits and giggles. Also, I got to be really, really mean to Falman. (I love him, I do. But action isn't his thing.) And Alex is Master of Snark. 3**

**Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan: Awesome! One of the silliest things about writing this is that, since I'm rewriting somebody else's story, I'm using my own brand of humour in place of Hiromu Arakawa's - which is a lovely change from all angst, all the time. It's good to hear Valjean and Diana mesh - yes you may ship all you want - and yush my pretties, let the Diana love flowwww... The little girl was in the actual episode, but it was all yuk yuk sugary sweet. Ed's a sweetie. Will is...not so much. Haha. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Fairyboydammit: Really, I couldn't write anybody else in those roles (except of course the real Roy and Riza). I'm glad you like them, they'll be playing a big part. And that just about describes them, although Selim's insightfulness has a really big reason behind it. And I'm not *saying* there's anything between them...honest... And trust me, I'm excited too. I was originally going to leave this part out, but then I decided I need to work on writing action scenes anyway. Thanks for reviewing, you're super awesome.**

**Shade40: Thanks! The simple details are my favourites, I find they really help to paint a scene - especially when you're trying to recreate one medium in another. The 'Will punching bricks', actually, is a reference to the previous chapter where he punched the wall of the house - he doesn't go around doing it for shits and giggles. (Or maybe he does. I can see him doing that. Never mind.) I had exactly that in mind for Solaris and Hughes - it's not hugely different from his interaction with Roy, but because of her character and her gender, it takes on a slightly more flirty flavour. (She *is* Lust, after all.) (And this is why I ship RoyxMaes.) I think I mentioned Valjean and Havoc in tandem in an author's note, hence the confusion, but I'm glad you've got it straight now :) The dragon is absolutely a first series reference, although I might do more with it. I thought the train episode was first-anime-only, I didn't realize Hiromu Arakawa had drawn it at all. It's not in Brotherhood at all, though. But if this is new for somebody, that's awesome. Thanks for stopping by, your reviews are always epic.**

**Okay, I need to learn to shut up. (But I have so much to sayy...)**

**Lyrics by Skunk Anansie. (This song was on the Sucker Punch soundtrack. 'Nuff said.)**

**~8~**

_Look out honey cause I'm using technology_

_Ain't got time to make no apologies_

_Soul radiation in the dead of night_

_Love in the middle of a fire fight_

_**-Search and Destroy**_

"Excuse me?"

Will looked up from the enthralled Millie, and groaned as he recognized the man who'd been so startled by them before. "Whaddaya want, gramps?"

"Are you... William Elric?"

"Well, yeah." He narrowed his eyes. "How'd you know my name?"

Falman sighed in relief. "I just heard from somebody that you were going to be on this train. That's all."

A second later, a gun crashed down on his head, and his eyes rolled backwards as he slumped to the ground. "That's enough from you," growled his assaulter, who then pointed the gun at Will.

"Wh-what?"

"Hands _up._"

"But -"

"I said up!"

Will slowly raised his hands into the air, surreptitiously looking down at Alex. He was slumped lifelessly on the seat, and his heart suddenly leapt into his throat. _Why wasn't he moving?_

Another gunman appeared from the same seat as the first, pointing his weapon up and down the carriage. "That goes for all of you. Sit still, shut up and don't make a fuss."

The first, who Will had already mentally dubbed 'Carrot-top' for his ginger-dusted hair, picked up Alex between his fingers and appraised him emotionlessly through his sunglasses. "What is this? You had it moving and talking before."

"Just..." Will swallowed, trying to stop the rising feeling of panic. "Just a toy."

"Just a toy, huh? You seem pretty nervous for just a toy."

"It's probably a bug," commented the other gunman, at which Carrot-Top snorted and dropped Alex on the ground, lifting his foot. He was a second away from crushing him.

_Why isn't he MOVING? Why isn't he -? Why why why why_

About half a second later, Will dropped down and drove his open palm upwards into the gunman's chin, sending him toppling backwards onto the seat, and then onto the floor.

"H-hey!" The second man swivelled around, aiming his gun at Will, but before he even had the chance to fire, an automail fist crashed into his face. Blood spurted from his nose as he staggered backwards, and one hand flew to his face to staunch the bleeding. He raised the gun again, but got no farther than his hip before Will had ducked and swept his feet out from underneath him. There was a 'thunk' as his head hit the floor.

Will smirked, taking a moment, when suddenly Millie cried, "Look out!"

He spun on his heel to see Carrot-Top getting to his feet again, one lens of his sunglasses broken and a cold blue eye glaring out furiously.

"Oh _shit -_" Just as the word left his mouth, instinct kicked in. Quite literally. He jumped into the air. and kicked Carrot-Top in the head, knocking them both to the ground. He smacked his chin into the floor with a nasty jolt, but when he opened his eyes again...he saw Alex.

Alex, sitting up and looking at him.

"ALEX!" he yelped, leaping forward rather ungracefully and snatching him up in an embrace. "You're - I - you - I - don't - what happened?" He held Alex slightly away from him - and was suddenly smacked by a tiny wooden fist.

"It was a _ruse, _you idiot! A clever ruse!"

"Ah - what?" Will could have sworn Alex was rolling his eyes. "They were going to crush you!"

"And they probably would have done worse if they thought I wasn't just a toy! I'm made of _wood, _I can be fixed! Trust me, I've transmuted myself back together before - you didn't have to go all gung-ho hero on me!" Suddenly, Alex chuckled. "Although, if I ever needed proof you cared -"

"Oh for fuck's sake, don't go mushy on me -"

"- you just took out two armed soldiers on your own."

Suddenly Will felt very weak at the knees. If he hadn't already been sitting down he might have collapsed. "...Well, shit. I guess I did." He broke into a grin, even if it shook at the corners. "It's the skirt. It's the source of my powers."

"You're so reckless, Brother."

"Reckless is right!" someone interrupted. They both looked up. A woman was holding Millie in her arms, tears welling at the corners of her eyes. "Look what you've done - now they'll kill us all!"

Murmurs began to spread through the carriage, and Will snarled as he looked around, "What, you would have preferred sitting here like a bunch of sheep?"

Millie's mother didn't respond, but the look in her eyes was answer enough.

"Cowards, the lot of you," muttered Will angrily.

"Don't worry, Mama!" Millie wrapped her arms around the woman's neck with a blissful expression. "Big Sister's gonna go beat up the nasty men."

Will bit back an irritated comment as Alex giggled. Apparently the little girl still hadn't wrapped her head around the idea that he was a _guy._

"And why's that?" Despite her attempt at sounding reassuring, the older woman couldn't hide the fear in her eyes or the tenseness in her voice.

"Because she kicked a dragon's _butt!_" Millie chirped, and the entire traincar burst into tense, semi-relieved laughter.

As it subsided, Will held up his automail arm and made a fist. "You _bet _I did. And these guys were pussies - er, sorry - I can take on the rest of them no problem. You just sit tight and I'll take care of 'em." He leant down and pulled the guns from the two mens' limp grips. "Alright, somebody's gotta stand guard on these two bozos. Alex and I'll go and see what's going on -"

"Hold on, kid, just a second!"

Will looked down the aisle, where Falman was crawling out from where he'd been dumped, rubbing his head with a rueful expression. "You're not going _anywhere _alone."

* * *

When the phone rang once again, Diana was filled with a sudden sense of misgiving. It was too soon. He shouldn't be calling again so soon - but she picked it up anyway. "Hello?"

The voice, however, wasn't Hughes's. "Is-is this Lieutenant-Colonel Solaris? It's General Hak -" The voice was quickly cut off and replaced by another.

"This is Bard of the Eastern Liberation Front, Blue Squad. We have taken control of this train."

The pit of her stomach dropped, but she smirked anyway. _So it has come to this after all. _"Mr. Bard. I've heard of you. Well then...What do you want from me?"

"Don't play dumb! We suddenly lost contact with one of our allies today - someone who was supposed to have delivered a statement to you."

"A statement? Hm, I'm sure I'd remember something like that. I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

She could hear him gritting his teeth through the line, and then he sighed. "Okay, fine. Bring our leader in Prison No. 8 to Central Station. We'll exchange prisoners there."

"It's a date, Mr. Bard. However -" Her voice turned deadly serious. "If you hurt a single man, woman or child on that train -" The line went blank, and she hung up the phone.

Valjean was on his feet, rocking back and forth from his heels to his toes. He was itching to do something, Diana knew, instead of this damnable _waiting. _"What's the situation?"

"They've got the train. I don't know where Hughes is. But..." She swallowed, her mouth suddenly very dry. "They've already killed somebody."

"What are they demanding?"

Diana shook her head. "Ridiculous things. The ally who delivered the statement - they were allowed to go free as a sign of good will. The so-called leader that they want released - he escaped a week ago."

Valjean's eyes widened. "They're looking for excuses."

She nodded grimly. "That train is doomed." She paused, glanced down at the wood of her desk, and then traced the whorls in the smooth surface with her white gloved finger. "Unless..." She looked back up. "Hughes would have lain low at the first sign of trouble. He's already gathering intel and working up a plan of resistance. Falman...Falman will obey Hughes's orders, but he won't resist on his own steam, so he's safe for now. And then...there's the Elric brothers."

"Wild cards."

"Wild cards might be exactly what we need." Still, her eyes remained troubled as she said quietly, "Let's see what these boys can do."

* * *

Falman eyed the two limp bodies nervously. "You did that? Alone? Well, this is embarrassing."

Will raised an eyebrow, barely keeping a smirk of pride off of his face. "How come? They clocked you."

The man rose wearily to his feet and lowered his voice. "The name's Falman... Warrant Officer."

"You're a soldier? Really? But they took you out so easily -"

"There were two of them! I'm only one man!"

"There's only one of me. And I'm _twelve."_

"Element of surprise is everything!" Falman coughed. "Anyway, the point _is, _you two are too young to be wrapped up in this. Just...sit tight and I'll take care of it."

"Like you took care of those two?" Alex pointed out, at which Falman couldn't help colouring slightly. "What _is _this, anyway?"

Will nodded along with Alex's question.

Falman took a deep breath and leant in to be doubly sure no one else would hear. "There's a reason I'm dressed like this. Up in the first car are General Hakuro and his family, coming back from vacation."

You could have heard a pin drop. And then Will hissed furiously, resembling a snake more than a boy, "Are you fucking _serious? That's _what this is about? Some puffed-up general getting his ass chased by some stupid terrorists who think dragging an entire fucking _trainload _of people -"

"-William-"

'-into some messed-up nightmare of a trip and -"

"-Brother-"

Will took a deep breath, and then exhaled irritatedly, blowing a few stray strands out of his face. "So there's other soldiers on the train?"

"A few. The General wanted to keep a low profile."

"Great, so it's up to a handful of soldiers -" _-like you- _"and us to take back the train against god-knows-how-many hijackers." He sighed again. "Alright, you and Alex stay here and guard these two bozos."

"Not on your _life, _Brother."

Will sighed, tempted to just shove Alex into Falman's hands, but his heart still hadn't slowed to a regular pace after nearly seeing him crushed under Carrot-Top's foot. "Fine. You stay here and guard these bozos, make sure no one else gets in and keep everybody calm." He walked over to the window.

"Where are you going?"

He flashed him a grin. "The high road." Pulling the window open, he stuck his head out and looked up and down before ducking back in and pushing first one, then the other leg through. "Hold on tight, Alex."

"No, _obviously_ I'm going to let go. What do you think?"

"Hey, just making sure your brain didn't get smaller as well as the rest of you." Will caught Millie's eye, and flashed her a thumbs up before lowering his feet carefully down until he found a ledge. He grabbed the window with both hands, trying to gain a foothold, and then pulled himself back up with a growl. "This is useless."

"What's the matter?" asked Alex.

"These goddamn shoes." He pulled them off, wary of his precarious balance, and tossed them back into the car. "Can't do a damn thing with them on."

Alex sighed. "What is it with you and doing things barefoot?"

"It's just _easier! _Now shut up, I have to concentrate." Finding the foothold was, like he'd said, a lot easier in his bare feet, although the metal of the train's exterior was almost painfully hot. Once he'd done that, he could inch over to the ladder that led to the top of the train - also made of metal, also hot.

It was once he reached the top of the train, however, that the heat _really _became an issue.

"OWW! Oh jeez, oh _jeez!" _Will slid back onto the ladder. "Ah, ah, ah, oww..."

"Funny thing, Brother, metal gets _hot _in the sun."

"Shut _up, _brat." He'd officially used up all the goodwill from Alex's near-miss. "It hurts."

"It _hurts?" _asked Alex in an incredulous tone, to which Will considered tossing the annoyance at the back of his neck into the sunset. Not that the sun was setting, or even close to it. It was the thought that counted.

"You know I don't like pain!" Will sat down on a rung of the ladder, hooking his arm around the side to brace himself. With a sigh, he brought the hem of his black shirt to his mouth and ripped it with his teeth, tearing off a strip all the way around.

"What are you doing?"

"Problem-solving," he replied, wrapping the pieces of cloth around his flesh foot. It wasn't nearly as clunky as shoes, but it offered a bit of protection so he wouldn't get burned. "One of my problems, anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that for someone with a painted on mouth, you're doing a hell of a lot of talking." He climbed back up onto the top of the train, and found it much more bearable. He began to make his way towards the smokestack, the wind whipping at his long hair and drowning out all other sound.

The train turned a corner, and his vision was suddenly obscured by a thick swath of blond. "Damn it!" he cursed, pulling it out of his face -

"BROTHER, LOOK OUT!"

He never saw the tree branch jutting out from the cliff until it was too late.


	9. Make A Move

**So...uh...now would be a good time to mention that this is quite a bit darker than either series, at least the beginnings of them. Heh.**

**Big thank you to Shade40 for pointing out the weirdness with Will's feet last chap! I've fixed that now and it should be showing up correctly. Also thanks to Shade40 for being my new beta ^^ This chapter has been nicely edited, props to her!**

**I'm finally finally shifting to using the review reply feature. I'm an old codger, be nice T_T**

**Lyrics by Icon for Hire.**

~9~

_Cause everybody's so scared_

_We don't wanna go there_

_We don't wanna make a move_

_We got all our lives to lose_

_Screaming in the dark while we just play our part_

**-_Make A Move_**

Will opened his eyes, very confused. He'd been falling a minute ago, and now -

"Hey, are you alright?"

He blinked. A dark-haired man, square-jawed with rectangular glasses and a brush of black stubble, was looking down at him. He looked down at his feet, and belatedly realized that he'd fallen off of the train - or would have, if the stranger hadn't caught him.

"I'm surprised you got this far," said the stranger conversationally, as if he weren't supporting both of their weights with one hand and foot on some very flimsy-looking metal bars. "I'm Hughes, by the way. You're William Elric, right?"

Will nodded slowly, still a little bit shellshocked. Then - "Hold on, how'd you...?"

Hughes laughed. "Lieutenant-Colonel Solaris told me all about you. Now then, you'll work with me. I've already checked things out below -"

"Whoa, whoa." Will reached forward, pulling himself up and sitting carefully on the metal bars. "You're military, right?" At Hughes's nod, he snorted. "Not got a whole lotta faith in you guys right now. Alex and I had to beat up the guys in our own damn car because the soldier was so useless - _Alex!" _he cried out suddenly, hand darting to the back of his neck.

"Oh, _now _you notice," came the dry response. "I'm fine, by the way, thank you for asking."

"Yeah, well, next time I won't."

Hughes chuckled, starting to climb back up onto the top of the train. "I'm not just military, I'm _Intelligence_. Now come on, kiddo. We've got a train to recapture."

* * *

"So what do you think?" whispered Alex.

"Of what?" he murmured back, focusing on keeping his balance. Hughes seemed to have no problem striding along the moving train, but especially after his close call, Will was feeling a little shaky.

"Of Mister Hughes."

"Eh. Too cheery for my taste," Will muttered. "Now do me a favour and stop distracting me."

As he said that, Hughes turned and gestured to him to hurry up. With a frustrated sigh, Will picked up the pace.

Hughes kept his voice low, adjusting his glasses as he looked down at the car they were standing on. "This is the head of the train," he murmured, crouching down and touching the metal with his fingertips. "I'll bet you anything they've got the drivers at gunpoint."

"How d'you know that? Maybe they were in on it."

The dark-haired man's eyebrows flew upwards. "You've got quite the mind on you. Ever thought about Intelligence?"

"Nah, he gave it all to me," chirped Alex, earning a not-very-effective smack and a subdued chuckle from Hughes before he laid himself flat on his stomach, peering over the edge. After a moment, he hopped back to his feet.

"What are you doing?" asked Will, trying not to sound as peeved as he felt.

Hughes grasped his shoulders, green eyes steely and determined. "I'll take them out - you two stay here until I give the okay."

Will knew they were in a dangerous situation. He'd stared down the business end of a gun only minutes before.

But -

"Hell no!" he exclaimed, practically ripping Alex off of his neck and pushing him into Hughes's chest. Before either of them had the chance to complain or protest, he ducked his head over the other side of the train -

- only to find himself looking into a pair of wide, black eyes, just as surprised as he was.

He pulled up his head and, not giving himself time to catch his breath _(cause if I do, I know I'm just gonna run in the other direction), _he grabbed the rail on the side of the train, jumping down and through the window. He felt his foot smash into something, hopefully not one of the drivers, and then he released the rail, landing with a crash inside the cab.

"You _punk!" _For the second time that day, Will was staring down the business end of a gun, except this one was about the size of his arm.

His eyes flicked to where the man he'd kicked, a burly, mustachioed strongman, was getting back to his feet, lifting his own gun.

There was no kindness, or surprise - just a hard, shiny surface where their eyes should have been. He'd never seen people so devoid of emotion.

The thought hit him, sickening and twisting in his stomach.

_I'm going to die._

_ They're going to kill me._

He was frozen. He couldn't move because if he did, he was dead but he was still dead and _oh my god I'm so sorry -_

- and a purple-shirted figure slipped through the other window. Will frowned, and both men swivelled around at his change of expression just as a flash of metal appeared in Hughes' hand.

The scream reached Will's ears before he processed the blood streaming out of the strongman's hand, pierced through with the small throwing knife. But as it _did _process, the adrenaline that had been frosted with fear suddenly broke free, flooding his veins.

The second man had turned towards Hughes, apparently deeming him a greater threat. _Big__ mistake._

Will swung his metal fist, feeling his own electricity jolt through it as he drove it into the back of the man's head. He went down like a ton of bricks, sending a thrill of satisfaction through his chest.

Never mind that his heart was jumping and shaking.

Hughes walked slowly over to him, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder. The contact made him start. "Are you alright?"

Will couldn't do anything but nod, and even then it was little more than a jerk of his chin.

"I never thought I'd find myself saying this to someone...but..." Hughes sighed. "You need to learn to follow orders."

Will inclined his chin again, and then reached for Hughes's pocket. Alex poked out his head, black yarn tangled and messy, and Will picked him up - only to be smacked lightly.

"You're an idiot, Will," he said, but his voice was soft.

He just shrugged. "It worked out, didn't it?" He plastered a false grin onto his face. "Told you these guys were pushovers."

* * *

A moment later, as he ducked his head down to avoid the loud gunshots, heart coming up into his mouth, Will began to regret saying that.

"Are you alright?"

"We can't go this way!" he cried back, and then hissed to Alex, "Which way _do _we go, then?"

"But, Brother -"

"Alex, just tell me which way to go!"

Alex sighed in irritation, and then began to climb up Will's arm.

"What are you _doing?" _Will tried to grab for him, but had to grab the ladder again when he felt himself falling backwards.

"What you seem to have forgotten you can do." Alex pulled out a handful of yarn from his head and arranged the threads into a simple circle, his nubbed hands remarkably deft. It lit up under his touch, and a shield of metal shot up from the train. The bullets ricocheted off of it harmlessly.

"There we go," whispered the doll.

"Good work!" yelled Hughes, still almost a full car behind, although he was starting to catch up now that they were under cover.

Will collapsed to all fours behind the shield, and smiled at Alex. "That was...pretty good, actually."

"Thanks, but why didn't you -"

Whatever Alex had been about to say was interrupted by another round of bullets, leaving dents in the metal - one of them right by Will's face.

Hughes finally caught up to them, head ducked like a soldier on a battleground. "That shooter's in Hakuro's car. That's where we need to get to."

"Oh fan -" Will clapped his hands sarcastically, just as a bullet ripped through the metal and into his side.

He lurched forward with a sound somewhere between a gasp and a scream as the pain ripped through him like a lightning bolt - and his hands landed squarely on the steel wall.

Alchemy needs direction. Transmutation circles serve that purpose for most alchemists - their lines and runes a set of instructions, telling the energy of the alchemist what to do, what to craft, what to create.

But when that energy is set free without instructions, it cannot create.

All it can do is destroy.

The shield shattered into a thousand fragments under Will's touch, falling away and blown by the movement of the train into the face of the shooter.

His screams lasted a long time.

Will fought the urge to fall to his knees and empty his stomach, although he did avert his eyes. His side didn't hurt anymore, although it stung a bit.

He wanted to lie down so much, close his eyes -

- and suddenly he stopped being drowsy as he stared disbelievingly at his hands.

What the hell had just happened?

Alchemy - destructive alchemy - without a circle -

It had been so long since he'd even touched a circle.

Could _everybody _do this? Just him?

Then Hughes was running ahead of him, and he remembered that there were still people to be saved, still criminals to defeat -

He wasn't done yet. He'd help Hughes - he'd win - and then he could lie down.

He could barely feel the wound in his side, anyway. It probably wasn't too serious.


	10. Until It Breaks

**And finally we reach the end of the train episode. Took me long enough.**

**If anybody does fanart then I'll be super-awesome-happy! I'm DYING for a pic of Will, but it's difficult because there's so few pics of Envy's original form and then you have to 1) age it down 2) give him automail and 3) put him in the outfit. And Alex is just impossible. (I'm working on it.)**

**Betaed by Shade40.**

**Lyrics by Linkin Park (new album!)**

~10~

_The body bends until it breaks_

_and sings again no more_

_cause__ time has torn the flesh away_

_**-Until it Breaks**_

Bard had not gotten where he was by being squeamish - so when Eldon's mutilated body fell back down into the car, his gun clattering out of his lifeless hands, he didn't flinch. His men, however, were another story.

"What could have _done _that?"

"What kind of weapons do they have?"

"I never signed up to fight no demons!"

"That's it," growled one of the rebels, turning his gun towards Hakuro and his family. "Let's just kill 'em now and ditch this fuckin' disaster area -"

Hakuro sprang to his feet, placing his body in front of his children in a desperate attempt to protect them, but Bard lifted his arm and fired two rounds into the dissenter's chest.

"Anybody else have any bright ideas?" he asked menacingly. He was answered only with silence. "Sit down," he snarled at Hakuro. The General slowly eased down into his seat, never taking his eyes off the terrorist leader.

Silence reigned. Bard turned his good eye towards the door, trying to gauge what would happen next. They'd lost contact with two cars so far - the locomotive and one of the back passenger cars.

Whatever came next, he'd have to be prepared.

* * *

"What else can you do with that?"

"With what?" snarled Will, insofar as one can snarl quietly.

"That...clappy thing. That was helpful."

"I can't do anything with it. I don't even know if I can do it again."

Hughes sighed. "Pity. So, we need to somehow disarm the rebels without hurting the General and his family -"

"Hold up." Will held up an automail finger. "We don't need to disarm them, we just need to delay them until we get to Central where there's backup, right?"

Hughes blinked, and then nodded. "That's right. But there's no way to let them know to have soldiers ready -" He stopped, and then grinned. "Unless I call ahead. Good thinking, kiddo." His grin faded. "But there's no way to guarantee that they won't start killing people before we get there."

"I'll stay here. Nobody will do anything anywhere in the train without an order from the big guys here, right?"

"Most likely. We can't be sure, though -"

"It's all we got. Now go make the damn call."

"And if they give the order?"

"Then I'll do something."

Hughes gave him a concerned look, and then shook his head with a small smile. Before Will could begin to figure out how to react to that, he was gone, heading back down towards the phone line.

Once he was out of sight, Will leaned slightly over, trying to get a glimpse into the open hatch. "How many do you see, Alex?"

"Six or seven, I can't tell for sure. I think the General and his family are in that side-partition there."

"Think I can take them?" he murmured almost soundlessly.

Alex was silent for a moment. Then - "You're an idiot, Brother."

Will grinned. His heart was jackhammering against his ribs, his spine was tingling - he wanted to _do _something.

And in a sudden realization that pitted elation against disgust, he realized that he _could._

"You've got my back, right?"

"How?" hissed Alex. "I don't have chalk, I don't have anything! What the hell am I supposed to do -"

"Figure it out," said Will with a grin, just before he got to his feet, scooped Alex up, and jumped into the train car.

Bard knew whoever had killed Eldon would be coming eventually, but he'd been expecting someone bigger. The figure who'd just leapt into the car, landing on his feet with a trained grace, hardly made it to his chin.

Bard knew better than to underestimate anybody. Nevertheless, he held out a hand to his men. "Hold your fire."

The boy smirked. "Cocky."

"Who are you? One of Solaris's operatives?"

He snorted. "Hardly. Just a civilian who thinks you're a bunch of shitheads."

Bard's arm twitched under his cloak, but he forced himself to be still. This kid had killed Eldon, and he wanted to know how. He said as much.

The brat shrugged, and then placed a hand on his hip, rubbing his neck. "Eh, I _could _tell you, but then you'd just shoot me."

"Okay. What should we do, then?" Bard tried to keep his tone light, trying to decide whether he was dealing with a stupid kid sticking his nose in where it didn't belong, or someone legitimately dangerous.

Or both.

In a sudden, swift motion, the blond pulled his hand away and threw something into the open compartment, making the family inside scream in fear. At the movement, the already-tense terrorists opened fire on the teenager in their midst, the rat-tat-tat of the guns drowning out all other sound.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" screamed Bard, trying to regain his control. The gunfire ceased.

"Heh-heh." The cloud of dust began to clear. There was no sign of the boy. But the laughter continued, tired but mocking. "Heh-heh-heh."

A glint of automail. A shine of gold.

Will looked up, grinning with wide, mad eyes. "What should you do, huh?" he asked, one hand clutched to his side. His face suddenly tensed with pain, and his grin vanished into a grimace. He pulled his blood-covered hand away, and clapped it against the other.

"Die."

* * *

Pacing wasn't working. The firing range was too far away from the phone. She didn't have a dartboard, chess was too slow, and her _other _method of stress-relief was advised against in official buildings.

And her nails were absolutely off-limits.

So when the phone rang, she just about fell out of her chair. Much to Valjean's credit, he didn't laugh, but simply answered it for her.

"Central Headquarters, Lieutenant Valjean." A moment later, his face split into a relieved smile. "You're alive. Thank God."

Diana leapt to her feet and snatched the phone away. "Maes?"

_ "In the flesh, darling. Well, not exactly. And what happened to being professional?"_

"Damn it, I was worried about you!"

Valjean cleared his throat. Diana ran a hand through her hair, trying to compose herself. "What's the news?"

_"Not much good, I'm afraid. The Elric boys and I took out a few of them - Falman's guarding two in one of the rear cars, although I don't know how that's going. We've got control of the engine, though, so we can speed things up if you get us some back-up."_

Diana's grip tightened on the phone receiver. "They're planning something big - I don't think they plan to let anybody live."

_"So I'm looking for a bomb."_

"You said it, not me. Yes. Find it, defuse it if you can - I know you know how - and..." She swallowed. "Don't die._"_

_ "Yes, ma'am!"_

* * *

"Mrs. Hakuro?"

She opened one eye, and then the other, blinking as she realized who exactly was speaking to her.

"Excuse me?" she replied, voice quiet and hoarse.

The doll inclined its head. "Keep your head down and hold onto something, okay? I don't know what my brother's doing but it's probably mind-numbingly stupid." Beat. "That wasn't very comforting, was it? Sorry."

Mrs. Hakuro shook her head dumbly.

"Are you military?" She sighed in relief when her husband interrupted; the idea of having to say something was a bit beyond her right now.

The doll shook its head. "Not exactly. We're connected with Lieutenant-Colonel Solaris -"

"That uppity -"

Whatever Hakuro had been about to say about Lieutenant-Colonel Solaris was cut off by a round of gunfire from outside the compartment.

"BROTHER!" Alex sprang for the hallway, but Hakuro was faster, slamming the door shut.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to save my family," growled Hakuro in reply. "Running into the middle of a gunfight isn't going to solve anything!"

However, a second later, he stumbled backwards. Through the small, round window came the unmistakable light of a transmutation - and just where the door met the ground, the floor began to fall away.

'Mind-numbingly stupid' didn't even _begin _to cover it.

* * *

Will watched each of them fall as if it were in slow-motion, counting them as he did.

_One._

Down through what had been the floor, gun springing out of the first rebel's hand.

_Two._

Black hair flying upwards as the second terrorist descended, hiding his expression. Small mercies.

_Three._

Down onto the tracks, surprise giving way to sheer terror in the space of micro-seconds.

_Four._

Arms reaching up, out, searching for a hold to save him.

_Five._

If any of them had thought to lie down, they might have survived, but their impulses weren't strong enough.

_Six._

They didn't even have time to scream.

_Seven._

And Bard, face half-hidden by his eyepatch, sprang for Will in a last throe of vengeance, mouth twisting in hatred and his arm rising up to reveal dull metal. He fired one shot before he fell out of sight, and it came close enough to Will's ear to make him flinch and his head ring. But it didn't touch him.

He threw himself backwards when he realized the floor was still disintegrating. How far would it spread?

_Idiot._

There was another compartment right next to him. He threw the door open and collapsed onto the seat, checking the material and sighing as he realized that the transmutation would end at the seat legs. Safe islands.

Will lay down.

God, it hurt. He touched his side again, and flinched. He was hurt - badly hurt.

"I hate pain," he murmured. His vision was swimming. For a split second, he thought he saw Selim, but it was nothing more than a mirage.

Will closed his eyes, and knew nothing more.


	11. Everything's Alright

**So I have an unfortunate announcement: Hero of the People will be going on hiatus for November, because I can't handle doing this and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and everything else. All of my fanfictions are going on hiatus...but fret not, because it WILL be back. I'm just taking a break.**

**Lyrics are from Jesus Christ Superstar.**

~11~

_Oh don't you know everything's alright?_

_Yes, everything's fine_

_and we want you to sleep well tonight_

**-_Everything's Alright_**

The train due from the Southwest pulled into Central Station half an hour early, but instead of its usual milling, multicoloured bustle, it was met with a sea of blue.

A young woman stepped off the train, legs shaking - and was faced with the barrel of a rifle. "I-I..." She began to shake even more violently.

"Sorry, honey," said the soldier on the other end, not unkindly. "We have to vet everybody."

She began to cry as he ushered her to the side, and another soldier frisked her, running his hands up and down her body. "Don't touch me, _please, _I..."

"We're just checking for weapons, ma'am."

One by one, the passengers came off the train and into the arms of the soldiers - some confused, some angry, some crying and fearful and others blank slates. The Lieutenant-Colonel watched every single one, memorizing their faces as best she could. Most would sink into oblivion before the day's end, she knew, but it was better than simply letting them each slip away.

"Lieutenant-Colonel, sir!" Two soldiers came up to her, and just behind them a familiar face -

"Hughes." She kept her voice calm, but couldn't help a small smile. He had no such reservations, grinning back and grabbing her hand, shaking it vigorously. However, his face was pale and beaded with sweat.

"Took care of it, Di," he said, trying to keep his tone light and his words nonspecific. "Shoddily made, but still, uh, hefty enough."

"Good thing you took care of it, then," growled Valjean appreciatively, coming up behind Hughes and visibly startling the Intelligence officer.

"Man, how do you move so _quietly?" _muttered Hughes slightly peevishly, although not without good humour, then added, "I'll pass on doing that again, if that's alright with you. I'll leave the high-stress situations to you circus freaks."

"Well, _that's_ nice -"

"Hughes." Maes's attention snapped back to Solaris, who was frowning. "Where are the Elrics?"

"I got a call from Hakuro from his car saying the situation was resolved. I presume they're still up with him."

She arched an eyebrow. "Resolved?"

Maes nodded grimly. "I didn't press for details...but considering what else that kid did, I don't want to know."

"What else he - Hughes, what did he do?" exclaimed Diana, her mask slipping a bit, but Hughes shook his head.

"Not now."

Valjean, who had wandered a ways away to supervise the clearing of the train, suddenly called out, "Solaris. Solaris!"

Hakuro was climbing out of a car, clearly shaken but with no visible injuries. Behind him was his wife and two children...and behind _them _was a soldier supporting a boy who looked half-dead. He didn't even seem to be conscious.

"William," breathed Diana in a moment of shock, and then snapped back into reality. "Valjean, get those medics over here, and _find the brother. _Hughes -" She was about to order him to do something, but stopped as the blood he'd regained drained out of his face again.

"He..." He abruptly buried his face in his hands. "It hit him."

"What?"

"The bullet," he murmured. "It hit him after all." After a moment, he sighed, dragging his hands away from his face. "I'm going to go see what happened in that car, figure out if there's anything left to interrogate." He started to walk past her, but Diana caught his shoulder.

"Or," she said slowly, "you can go home, kiss your wife and figure out baby names." She smiled. "Your choice."

Hughes blinked, nonplussed, and then covered her hand with his for a moment, smiling back. "You're a godsend, love."

"Don't let Gracia hear you say that. Now go. You've got three hours."

* * *

Resting her head uncomfortably on the back of the hospital chair, Diana reflected that William looked far more peaceful asleep than he ever had awake, unknowingly mirroring Selim's thoughts from a similar situation over a year ago. Her memory of him was faint, admittedly, but she could still remember the eleven-year-old's bitter vitriol, directed at seemingly everybody and nobody at once.

With a sigh, she bent her head back over Falman's report. He listed a total of twenty casualties, with nine deaths, three major injuries (including Will) and eight with minor damage. It was a shockingly low number - and it had been close to being so, so much worse. There had been more than three hundred passengers on the train.

Nine deaths. One of them had been the soldier assigned to Hakuro's compartment (one Captain Jack Lewis),but the rest were terrorists.

Diana shook her head despairingly. Destructive alchemy and a ruthless, yet effective method...

William Elric would most likely hate the military...but the State Military was going to _love_ him.

There was a squeak of hinges as the door opened, and flicking her eyes up, she acknowledged Jareth's entrance with a slight smile at odds with her inner turmoil. He gave her a lazy salute that any other commanding officer might have bitten his head off for, and then automatically took his normal position standing behind her chair.

"So what kind of kid have we saddled ourselves with?" he murmured, continuing as she glanced warningly up at him, "Don't worry. Fuery's already swept for bugs."

"Circle-less alchemy," she replied quietly at his assurance.

Jareth was silent for a heartbeat, before reaching forward and plucking one of the reports from Diana's hand. "You're _shitting _me," he murmured, peering over his sunglasses to make sure he was reading it right.

"I'm afraid not. He killed seven of the terrorists, including the ringleader, by decomposing the bottom of the train car."

The Lieutenant whistled lowly. "That's brutal. Efficient, but brutal." Pause. "I think I like this kid."

"That's exactly my problem," admitted the troubled officer, taking back the report. "He's a _child. _I expected...well, just about anything else."

"Anything else wouldn't work very well as a State Alchemist," he pointed out. "So you're waiting here so that you can be sure you're the first to talk to him?"

"Yes."

"Permission to give you some advice, Diana, sir?"

She glanced up. "Within reason, Lieutenant."

"Remember not his years but his scars."

She started at the familiar words, and then shook her head. "You don't need to tell me that."

"Then stop feeling bad about dragging him into this. Chances are he woulda done it anyway."

Diana wanted to say he was wrong, but simply looked back at the sleeping Will. "Where's Alex?"

"Still with the Hakuros."

She sucked in her breath, but forced herself to calm down. "That could be troublesome."

"I'm sure he's got some story or explanation. Not a whole lot we can do - or that we're obliged to do - at this point. Which reminds me, you should get some sleep." Pause. "Sir."

"Would you like to try that again?"

He grinned. "C'mon, Di. You look like hell warmed over."

"I appreciate that," she retorted in a flat tone. "Is that the line you use on all your girlfriends?"

"I'm serious. I'll stand brat-duty - I mean, stay here until he wakes up." He lowered his sunglasses, fixing her with a playful look that contrarily meant that he was completely serious.

She threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office."

"On the couch, asleep. Or else Vera comes out."

"Vera?"

Jareth patted his holster by way of answer.

"Another one? How many do you need?"

"You know me too well to expect a reasonable answer to that."

Diana promptly got up before Jareth could start on his usual spiel. "If he wakes up..._be nice._ And that, my dear Lieutenant, is in fact an order."

* * *

The black leather couch in Solaris's office was not new. She had purloined it from an office that was being vacated, and years and years of people had lain upon it, wearing its burnished, squeaky shine down to a comfortable, velvety surface, albeit with its fair share of scuff-marks.

Diana could easily have requisitioned a new one, of course. She was a Lieutenant-Colonel and the military was not short of supplies. But somewhere she'd become enamored with the idea that objects held memories, and maybe she dreamt somebody else's dreams while sleeping on it.

But as she stared up at the ceiling fan making its lazy passes, she thought to herself that either it was simply a foolish fantasy after all, or that there was another person out there who broke into a cold sweat at the smell of smoke and burning flesh.

Whoever he was, Diana hoped she never met him.

* * *

Jareth Valjean was not a patient man. Nobody had ever had reason to call him patient, or to even consider applying the word to him.

So it was no real surprise when fifteen minutes into his vigil he was staring at the ceiling, seeing what patterns he could derive from the various brown stains on the white plasterboard while picking his teeth with his legs splayed out in front of him.

Furthermore, to anybody well versed in the rules of the universe, it was no real surprise when Will chose that very moment to open his eyes.

"Oh, fantastic. They sent me a trained monkey."

Jareth suppressed a growl, trying to smile reassuringly. "Hey, kid, glad to see you're awake. I'm Lieutenant Val -"

"Valjean, yes, I remember. I _don't_ remember you looking like such a tool."

Jareth's hands flew instinctively to his glasses. "You little _bitch, _you have no room to talk! What kind of dude wears a skirt, anyway?"

"The kind who doesn't put enough shit in his hair to wax every floor in Central!"

"Yeah, and _you _would know, backwater hick -"

"-military jackass -"

"-skinny-assed tramp-"

Outside, the nurses had begun to cluster around the door to William's room. Bets had been placed as to who would initiate the kissing, and a few were even nervously wondering if they shouldn't close the door before the head nurse finally cleared them away, telling them to clear their heads of such foolish notions.

Still, five seconds into their first real meeting must have broken _some _kind of record.


	12. I Think I'm Paranoid

**Sorry about the wait :( School kicked my ass. I quite like some of the happenings in this chapter, though - I know the pace is slow, but I'm trying to sort of get the characters together before the plot really gets going.**

**Also, I have a co-writer now! :D :D :D CavemanToao is gonna help me with some of the writing which means chapters shouuuld go up faster. If they don't, send him PMs and poke him to write faster. (I kid. PM me and I shall do the poking.)**

**Thank you to Shade40 for being our beta ^.^**

~12~

_I think I'm paranoid_

_and complicated_

_I think I'm paranoid_

_Manipulate it_

_**-I Think I'm Paranoid**_

Diana was woken by the phone ringing. Rubbing at her eyes with one hand - noticing with slight alarm that she still had her gloves on - she pushed herself up with the other...only to freeze.

Maes tried and failed to conceal his little smirk. "You'd better get that, Di. Don't want to keep them waiting."

"You're in my office," she stated, rather self-evidently. He shrugged.

"Havoc let me in."

"I'll have to fire him later," she replied with an irritated growl, finally lifting her drowsy frame from the black couch and picking up the phone, holding a finger in Maes's direction to make sure he didn't speak. "Lieutenant-Colonel Diana Solaris speaking -"

"_It's Valjean."_

She paused, a sleepy fog still jamming her engines and rendering her unable to properly interpret his tone. "Is something the matter?"

_"This kid is the problem! I've never met someone so self-centered, so bratty, so - so - so freakishly annoying! I swear I'm going to rip out his tongue if he complains about my looks one more time, and - and - Jesus!"_

Diana was suddenly very glad it was Maes and not somebody else in the room with her; it would have been very hard to explain away her sudden laugh otherwise. "Lieutenant Valjean, did you call me just to tell me you can't handle a twelve-year-old boy?"

_"No, I'm calling to tell you that now he's complaining that his brother hasn't come back from Hakuro's." _The note of annoyance in Valjean's voice was clear enough to make Diana frown.

"You seem to be forgetting that his brother is about ten inches tall. Head by Hakuro's office and see if you can't hurry things up a bit. I don't want those boys separated for long."

_"Fine, fine -"_

"Valjean," she warned, and his responsive sigh sent a burst of static down the line.

_"Yes, Lieutenant-Colonel Solaris."_

She chuckled. "Now that's what I like to hear. A man who knows his place."

_"Sometimes I don't know why I put up with you."_

"Because I'm your commanding officer. Dismissed, Lieutenant." She hung up before she could hear more than the beginning of what promised to be a very snarky reply, and slid behind her desk, steepling her fingers and giving Maes a serious look. "Now. That report."

Maes, who was in the middle of pretending to gag (rather hypocritically of him), immediately straightened up. "Where would you like me to begin?"

"Where does any good story begin?" she asked with no shortage of sarcasm. "The beginning."

* * *

Jareth, being Jareth, grumbled all the way to the military complex from the hospital. He was decidedly not good with kids, so Diana's reasoning for essentially putting him in charge of two pre-teens eluded him. Still, she was right: Alex _couldn't _be left alone for too long. The fact that he was eleven years old didn't even play into it; anybody who could be rendered helpless simply by clutching him in your hand wasn't somebody to let into enemy hands.

_Kid should have stayed at home... It's bad enough that I've got a twelve-year-old who wants to be a State Alchemist, but whatsisname - Alex - has absolutely no place in the military._

Bringing himself to an abrupt halt, Jareth glared at the door in front of him for a moment before raising his hand to knock - and stopped as voices drifted out from behind the thick oaken door.

"Dammit, stop with your tomfoolery! I'm asking you who you really are?"

"My name is Alexander, I like to sing and play, I'll be your precious playmate each and every day! Laugh with me and sing with me, clap your hands and count with me, one two three one two three one two three!"

Jareth reached up and lowered his glasses, staring at the door in astonishment before rapping his knuckles against it, schooling his features into something approaching solemnity.

The door swung open, revealing Hakuro's secretary with the usual sour look on his face. "General Hakuro is busy right now."

"Yeah, no, I don't think so. I can hear him yelling at that toy down the hall."

The secretary's sour look deepened at that, but he stood aside. "Come in, then, Lieutenant Valjean." He said the name with an even more bitter tone than usual, but Jareth ignored it. He was just as used to that as he was to being widely recognized; it was all part of the Flame Alchemist's reputation that her adjutant was just as dangerous and just as fearsome.

Fearsome or not, Jareth couldn't help a toothy grin when the inner door to Hakuro's office finally opened, revealing Alex walking robotically up and down the General's desk, clapping his hands.

"My name is Alexander, I like to sing and play, I'll be your precious playmate each and every day! Laugh with me and sing with me -"

"Having some troubles, sir?" asked Jareth as disarmingly as possible, and was rewarded by a piercing glare.

"Tell your man to stop fooling around," commanded Hakuro, folding his arms and looking for all the world like a petulant child. "He's been doing this for hours."

"He? What?" Jareth put on his most quizzical, confused face. "...Sir, it's a toy."

"It is _not _a toy! This little...person... kept my family and I out of danger."

"That would be William Elric, sir. You're yelling at a doll. It's a clever little thing, though. It runs on alchemy."

Reaching forward, he poked what would have, on a flesh-and-blood person, been Alex's bellybutton, and right on cue, the doll stopped in its tracks and toppled over to lay flat out on the desktop.

The angry, puzzled look on Hakuro's face almost made Jareth burst out laughing on the spot, but his training held firm. "But - who _made _it? I've never heard of such a thing."

"I believe it's the Elric boy's own invention."

Hakuro lifted an eyebrow at that, and then took a deep breath, managing to smile - even if it cracked a little bit at the corners. "He's a talented boy. Innovative. Good in combat situations. Has he thought of becoming a State Alchemist?"

"He was planning to take the test the moment he turned eighteen."

The General clicked his tongue at that. "Nonsense. No use in letting talent like that fester for six years. I'll write a recommendation to the Fuhrer tonight. With permission, he should be able to take this year's exam with no problems."

"Thank you, sir. That's very kind of you." It was good that Hakuro was chronically incapable of picking up mockery in someone's tone. "Could I take William's toy back to him? He's been rather fretful about it."

"Oh? Of course, of course." Hakuro flapped his hand at the doll, too embarrassed to even pretend to be professional at this point.

"Thank you." Jareth picked up Alex and shoved him into his pocket, although he was mindful of the blood seal on his forehead. Obviously Hakuro hadn't noticed exactly what the marking on the supposed toy's forehead was made of. _Useless old geezer._

"Dismissed." Hakuro pressed his fingers to his temples. "And...close the door on your way out."

Jareth bowed and did so, although not without a silent snigger as the door clicked shut. Only once he was safely away down the halls, however, did he lean against the wall and let himself laugh, shaking his head at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the impossible boy and, unable to voice his thoughts, just continued to shake his head.

Alex didn't move for a moment, and then in a squeaky imitation of Jareth's own voice, "Thank you sir, that's _very _kind of you."

"Shut up, you little brat!" Jareth tried to say, but broke into helpless laughter again halfway through, running his free hand through his hair. "You - you are - _ridiculous. _I'd say don't ever do that again, but that was _brilliant._"

Alex chuckled a little bit and then sighed. Jareth gave him a look that was almost concerned, and then tucked him back into his chest pocket, murmuring just loud enough for him to hear, "I'm taking you back to your brother. Keep quiet."

"You didn't need to tell me that, you know."

"You're talking. Obviously I did."

* * *

Will wasn't quite unconscious. Rather, he was in between sleep and wakefulness, hovering in a grey zone where the door, the lines of the ceiling, and the posts of the hospital bed by his feet were nothing but smudged, blurry lines. It was a morphine daze - he could still feel the hole in his side, but it didn't _hurt. _It was just...there.

The door opened and a silhouette walked in, and Will moved his head slightly. It was Jareth (had to have been Jareth) and Will felt himself smile when he realized what it meant. _Alex. Alex is back. I can yell at him for going off without me. I wonder if he's mad. ...Not that I care._

_ I'm just glad...glad he's safe..._

If Will had been a little more alert and a little less doped up, he would have noticed sooner that the figure was not Jareth. However, the moment he realized it, the grey haze fled and his eyes snapped fully open.

The nurse hovering over him recoiled a little bit, and then smiled reassuringly. Will found himself strangely captivated (it must have been the drugs) by her face. It was oddly familiar, although not overwhelmingly so.

"Who are you?" he tried to ask, that nagging sense of _I know you _refusing to leave him alone.

She said nothing. Will studied her, fighting against the morphine that wouldn't let him focus. She was...pretty might have been the word he was reaching for. Long blonde hair tied up in a bun, with a few strands falling out and framing her face... One lock brushed against his cheek. She was leaning so close it was starting to make him uncomfortable.

Her eyes were very, very blue.

And then the door, which the nurse had closed quietly behind her, swung back open. The nurse disappeared, leaving a white, glowing afterimage that burned its way into Will's eyes, incinerating the last traces of grey.

Jareth blinked. "Was there someone else in here, kid?" he asked, a suspicious undertone worming its way through his concerned voice.

Will couldn't do anything but shake his head.

He didn't know whether he was lying or not.


End file.
